Lessons in Time Travel
by Kitty Foxxe
Summary: What would happen if Hermione was allowed to tell Harry about her time-turner? What if they received special training? Would they stay the same, or would they find real friends and a real future in the arms of someone they truly deserve? Set in POA. HPHG.
1. Lesson 1: A Secret Shared

Hello everyone, This is my first fanfic, so I'm hoping you go easy on me. I welcome any reviews, because I want to improve. Well, wish me lot's of luck and such.

Summary: McGonagall allows Harry into Hermione's time-travel adventure. Harry is pulled into intense study sessions and survival training. Hermione is tackling a problem called time. Ron is being very Ron. Time travel, intense study, Quidditch, training, classes and Chess, Harry is in for one interesting year.

Pairings: HPHG (Other pairings to be decided)

Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will own Harry Potter and its affiliated characters.

Enjoy the story. ~Kit

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Lesson 1 ~ A Secret Shared

It was the beginning of a new year at Hogwarts. The air was thick with September first excitement as crowds of housemates and friends greeted each other. Even if the mocking voice of Draco Malfoy was an unwelcomed blight, Harry Potter felt at home.

The castle seemed to glow with new term wonder, and even Hermione Granger stood in the hall in reverie. **The door into the great hall stood open at the right; Harry followed the crowd toward it, but barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"**

**Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised.** Harry grew nervous as her sharp gaze focused on the trio. **Professor McGonagall had a way of making him feel he must have done something wrong.**

"**There's no need to look so worried – I just want a word in my office," she told them. "Move along there, Weasley."**

Hermione gave a small wave to Ron and motioned for Harry to walk beside her. Still feeling rather off, he complied with her comforting whims. "They probably just want to check on you Harry, if anyone has to worry it's me," she whispered to him.

"Hermione Granger, get in trouble? Never," he whispered back.

She gave him an indignant huff and a small smile. McGonagall gave the couple a warning cough. "In you go," the professor directed them. **"Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Potter."**

**Before Harry could reply there was a soft knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, came bustling in.**

**Harry felt himself going red in the face. **"I'm fine, really!" he exclaimed.

"Harry," Hermione scolded, "calm down."

"What happened this time Mr. Potter?"

"It was a dementor, Madam Pomfrey. One swept into our compartment and got in real close. Professor Lupin gave us all some chocolate after our encounter, but Harry had it the worst –"

"Hermione!" he cried, embarrassed. "I'm _fine_."

The two missed a dark look that passed between the two adults. Madam Pomfrey gave him a disapproving look, "Well, why don't I have a look just in case?" Without another word, she began fussing over Harry. "You won't be the last to fall ill because of those things, horrible, nasty creatures," she mumbled. "Hmm, yes, all clammy."

"**What does he need?" said Professor McGonagall crisply. "Bed rest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"**

"**I'm **_**fine**_**!" said Harry, jumping up. The thought of what Draco Malfoy would say if he had to go to the hospital wing was torture.**

"Well, he's already had chocolate... Are you feeling any different than usual Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey inquired. Harry shook his head and opened his mouth. "I know, I know Mr. Potter, you're _fine_. Miss Granger, should he show signs of distress, please inform either myself or Professor McGonagall, if there's nothing else?"

"**Are you sure you feel alright, Potter?" Professor McGonagall said sharply.**

"_**Yes**_**," said Harry.**

"**Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her schedule, then we can go down to the feast together."**

"I-I'll be able to take all my classes won't I?" Harry heard Hermione ask as he exited the room. The door closed behind him and McGonagall let out a small, frustrated sigh. "Won't I?" Hermione asked quietly biting her lip in anticipation.

"Yes, Miss Granger, you will be able to take all your classes. Yes, well, while we could have you taking all of your classes on an even schedule, I feel that you would be more comfortable taking classes with your friends. So, instead of putting you into Ravenclaw classes I have convinced Professor Dumbledore to grant you this."

She took the odd ornament and said, "I don't understand. What do you mean by putting me into Ravenclaw classes? We have classes with them all the time..."

"Well, without the device you have in your hand, we would have had you taking certain core classes with another house. However, the device I have given you will allow you to keep your classes."

"What is it Professor?" Hermione asked curiously.

"This is a Time-turner," Professor McGonagall opened a second door. "In please, Miss Granger." She followed her favorite teacher into a more private area, briefly wondering why they had changed venue. They spent most of the next hour going over the delicacies of time-travel, before Hermione desperately tried to argue against keeping her schedule secret.

"Please, Professor, I know the dangers, and I won't tell anyone else. Harry and Ron spend so much time with me, they're bound to notice..." she trailed off at the thought that Ron would notice anything, "well, Harry would notice. He's much more observant than most would give him credit for."

"Miss Granger," McGonagall warned.

"Please, I know Harry, he wouldn't tell anyone else, and he can help me keep track of everything. It would be so much better if I had just one person I could talk to about the classes I'm taking, and well...He won't tell. Please?" she begged.

"Promise me you will tell no else," McGonagall replied sternly. Hermione gave her professor a stiff nod, thinking her rambling was for naught. "Well, I see no problem with letting Mr. Potter know, but he must not tell anyone. Mr. Weasley however is less likely to be able to keep a secret. If you are sure you wish to alienate one friend from a well kept secret, I will not stop you."

Hermione bit her lip, "I, um, thank you Professor."

"Very well, follow me," she commanded. Hermione followed her professor back into the office. "Now let us turn back one hour and head to dinner."

Hermione let out a sudden gasp, "That's why we moved to the other room!"

McGonagall nodded and motioned for Hermione to turn time. A brief moment later Hermione heard the door close, their other selves had just moved to the other room, and it had only been a few minutes for Harry. "Call Mr. Potter in. I would like an oath from both of you to ensure you will not tell anyone else about your device."

Hermione opened the door and called Harry back in. "You didn't talk me into the infirmary did you Hermione?" Harry whispered jokingly.

"She did not, Mr. Potter, however if you wish to stay there for the night it can be arranged."

Harry gulped, "No, Professor." He glanced nervously at Hermione's half-hearted smile.

"Good," McGonagall looked to Hermione, "I have given Miss Granger a device called a Time-turner. This is so she can attend her classes. I will allow her to give you the details later, as I believe we are due for dinner. However, I need an oath from each of you."

Hermione looked at Harry, "Follow my lead," she took a sharp breath. "I, Hermione Jane Granger, do so swear to keep all knowledge of true time-travel and time-turners to myself and those in this room, unless there is an extreme emergency that requires its exposure."

McGonagall nodded, "Quite acceptable Miss Granger. It will warn you and I if you are near braking this oath, but it will not bring harm to your life nor your magic. Mr. Potter."

Confused, Harry repeated Hermione's oath, word for word – after replacing her name for his. After another nod from their professor, they made their way to the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" he asked, still confused over the odd mood his friend was in.

"If I wanted to keep my classes with you and the rest of the Gryffindors, I needed to be in two places at once. Apparently the elective classes are scheduled around the Ravenclaw Core classes to accommodate their 'thirst for knowledge,' meaning that if anyone in Gryffindor or Slytherin wanted to take all the offered electives they'd need –"

"To be in two places at once, because we share most of our classes with the Slytherins, meaning the Ravenclaws spend most of their classes with the Hufflepuffs – the house known for hard work. I get it Hermione."

McGonagall gave a small cough, "I see what you meant about observant Miss Granger, but we are here."

They walked in as inconspicuously as possible, however Harry winced at a furious glare Snape had sent his way. He could almost hear the sarcastic voice sneer at him. People were pointing at him as he and Hermione passed their tables. Whispers filled the hall, and briefly, he wondered if news of his collapse had already spread across the entire student body. "Ignore it Harry," Hermione whispered, bringing a small smile to McGonagall's lips.

They parted ways with their professor as she moved to her seat at the head table. The two found seats on either side of Ron, who promptly asked, "What did she call you away for anyway?" Harry began to explain when Dumbledore stood up.

"**Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..."**

**Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.**

"**They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even Invisibility cloaks."**

Hermione laughed as her boys gave each other a worried glance. As Dumbledore continued his tirade on the nature of dementors, Hermione, who promised herself she'd find more information on those despicable creatures, pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment to take some notes.

She set down her pen, which she had on her at all times due to its durability, and clapped hard as the new professors were announced. Her smile towards the two only faltered when Harry whispered, "Look at Snape! It's like he hates Professor Lupin as much as he hates me!"

Hermione had to agree, the look her Potions teacher gave Professor Lupin was one of pure loathing, the kind that Professor Snape usually had tuned to Harry.

"And with that done, Let the feast begin!" Dumbledore announced.

The tables were flooded with food and knives and forks began to dance in a frenzy of hunger. "So," Ron began taking a bite out of his chicken, "Whaf sid Miganaga wan'?"

"Ron, at least swallow before talking," Hermione scolded.

Harry shook his head, "Hermione's got a point Ron, one day, even I won't understand you."

Ron gave them an exaggerated swallow. "What did McGonagall want?" he asked again.

Harry shrugged, "For me, she just allowed Madam Pomfrey to fuss over me. Honestly, I was fine, and I am fine."

Hermione gave him a mocking smile, "It was a fight to convince both of them of his completely 'I'm _fine_' status."

Harry returned her smile with a smirk as Ron asked, "What about you? What was wrong?"

Hermione huffed, "I have it all worked out with the Professor. Don't you worry."

They gave her a shrug and returned to their meal, unaware of the change in their group dynamic. Had anyone else been paying attention to Harry and Hermione, they would have noticed a new spark of trust between them. Suddenly it was okay for the two reclusive teens to poke fun at each other and act their age.

At the end of dinner the trio walked up to the head table to give their favorite half-giant a hearty congratulations. Then they followed Percy, Big-Head Boy extraordinaire, up to the common room. "The password is Fortuna Major!" He announced to the hall of clamoring students.

The common room was just as they remembered, warm, friendly, inviting; it was home. Ron trudged up the boys' staircase, already half-asleep. "You coming Harry?"

"In a bit," He replied, watching as his lazy friend continued up the stairs. Noticing the dwindling numbers, Harry asked, "Want to talk about it now?"

Hermione shook her head, "Let's wait a while for the room to clear up. You know, you never did tell me why you blew up your aunt."

As Harry ran through the small tale of his not so successful blackmail scheme, the common room faded into quiet. As he spoke, Crookshanks crawled into his lap. Running his fingers through the cat's orange fur had calmed Harry as the story unfolded.

"I know it's a bit late Harry, but your aunt is very wrong. Your mother must have been the finest pick of the family. The only thing she is right about is that you have plenty of your mother in you, of that I'm sure," Hermione told him as she scanned the common room. "Okay, it's now perfectly vacant," she deducted, pleased. "We can talk about _it_ now."

He stopped petting Crookshanks, earning him a small hiss. "I guess my first question would be, why tell me at all?" Harry stated plainly.

Hermione took a breath, "Because, after you told us about Sirius Black, I knew this year would be just as much trouble as the last. So, to ensure that you will listen to me, about your safety and your studies, I thought I would or should be completely honest with you in all things so you could trust me enough to listen," Hermione paused. "I was also hoping to show you how much I trust you. I did not want and will never want to force you to do anything. Oh, am I making any sense?"

"Okay," Harry blinked, "I think I understand, sort of. But, you know, I already trust you."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks Harry, but I want to be worthy of it."

"Well, why isn't Ron going to be in on this?" Harry asked without malice.

Hermione bit her lip, "Well, Professor McGonagall didn't think Ron would be able to keep the Time-Turner a secret if he was provoked. He would try to rub it in Malfoy's face."

Harry nodded, and chuckled, "Yeah, he probably would."

"Was there anything else, Harry?" Hermione asked after a brief silence.

"Yeah, would you mind if I tagged along in your study hours? You'd go insane if you were alone."

Hermione smiled, "We can ask McGonagall tomorrow." She paused, "If Ron asks, I wanted you to study spells with me to get you prepared in case you do meet Sirius Black. Is that okay? Because I wanted to do that anyway," At Harry's nod, Hermione relaxed. "Good night Harry and thanks." She kissed his cheek and made her way up her girls' staircase.

Crookshanks purred as Harry ran his finger through the ginger cat's fur. "Our Hermione is something else, isn't she?" he asked, touching the warm stain Hermione had left on his cheek. The cat gave Harry a lazy glare as he removed him from his lap. "Good night Crooks, and stay out of trouble."

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*Bold text: Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban pg. 88-92 American Hardcover

Well, that's all of it. I hope this was refreshing and new. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please review, and I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible.


	2. Lesson 2: Between the Moments

Okay, I plan, and I do mean plan, to update weekly or at least monthly once school starts, but for now, I'll update as soon as I finish the chapters. Don't expect the pace to be consistant because I don't know how much time I will have during the school year. College is new territory for me, so I give you no promises.

Also, I will read every review, I promise [oh, I just said I wouldn't do that...oh well], but I'm only going to answer a few in vague terms [at the end of the chapters] after all if I tell you what will happen, what's the point of the story?

So, sorry if I don't answer that question that you're dying to figure out, because a story's not a story if the reader isn't a part of it. [Meaning, if you aren't asking questions about my intentions, I'm not doing my job.]

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter...well let's not think about that...

Enjoy. ~Kit

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Lesson 2 ~ Between the Moments

When Harry and Ron woke up the next morning, they were instantly swept into a deep conversation about Hermione.

"What did Hermione want to talk about last night?" Ron asked with a yawn.

"She wants me to study with her more often," Harry began, "probably would have asked you too, mate, but we both know how much you hate to study."

"Extra studies, you're mental. Why does she want you to anyway?" Ron asked, not fully processing Harry's character analysis.

"She wants me to be able to defend myself against Black, if I ever meet him," Harry shrugged. "You know Hermione, never can be too prepared."

Ron yawned as they walked down the stairs, "Yeah, that's Hermione for you." Once they reached the bottom steps, the two greeted Hermione and pulled her away from a helpless textbook. "Time for breakfast," Ron told her. "Books can come later."

In a huff, Hermione stuffed her textbook into her bag. She led the boys out of the common room and into the hall. The trio walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Hermione was planning out a schedule for her 'extra studies,' Harry thought of the coming year, and hope, prayed it would be a normal one, Ron was more concerned with the immediate future, namely breakfast. As they entered the Great Hall, they caught Malfoy in a pitiful display of Harry's trauma on the train.

Harry turned away, only to hear a roaring bout of laughter from the Slytherins. "Ignore it Harry," Hermione encouraged. "If there was anything to laugh at it was Malfoy's idea of acting."

"Yeah, he was pathetic, wasn't he," Ron added with a grin. The two dragged Harry to their table, and sat him down.

"What happened to him?" George asked as he and his twin wandered by. Hermione gestured towards the Slytherin table. "Oh, him. Wasn't so cocky last night was he Gred?"

"Nope, the git ran in screaming," Fred said loudly. "Those _things_, those dementors, they're walking – well gliding – nightmares." Hermione shuddered from the memory. Fred continued, "No one with half a brain would even think to joke about dementors."

"_Malfoy_ is," Harry grumbled.

"Like I said, no one _with _half a brain," Fred grinned. This earned smiles from those listening, who readily agreed with Fred's assessment.

"Anyway, McGonagall has us handing out schedules," George announced. "Here's yours, and Hermione, I think you need a chat with our beloved head of house."

"Don't you worry, we had a chat last night," Hermione said levelly. "It's all figured out." She put away her schedule without a glance.

"Aren't you going to look at your schedule?" Ron asked, curious.

Hermione simply replied, "Later, pass the marmalade."

"Divination in the North tower? That'll take a bit to get there I guess we'll have to leave early," Harry mused. "And Transfiguration after that, not a bad schedule before lunch."

Breakfast continued without a hitch, only ending early for the trio when Hermione announced she needed a word with Professor McGonagall. Just as she got up, Hagrid entered the hall. Giving him a wave and a kind smile, she began to walk towards the head table. "Yer in me firs' class," Hermione hear him telling Ron and Harry. "Righ' af'er lunch."

When she reached Professor McGonagall, she was surprised to see her attentive. "Is there anything you need Miss Granger?" she asked kindly.

Hermione hesitated, giving Professor Snape a sideways glance. "May I have a few moments after class today, Professor?" she asked shakily.

McGonagall raised a brow, "Is that all?" At Hermione's nod, she continued, "Barring any mishaps in today's schedule, I see no problem with a meeting. It was very considerate of you to ask ahead of time Miss Granger; nevertheless, perhaps you should head off to class."

Hermione nodded and thanked her professor before returning to Harry and Ron. Before they left the hall, she excused herself once again to head off to the bathroom. She glanced at her schedule, sighing as she made her way to the first class on the list that she wouldn't be sharing with the others, Muggle Studies.

It was a different experience to arrive twenty minutes early to a class; the last time she had made an entrance that early, she was completely alone in Hogwarts. Halloween of her first year. She smiled at the bittersweet memory of that day, shaking her head slightly to gather her thoughts. Hermione pulled out her day planner and began scripting her schedule.

Students began trickling in; to Hermione's surprise, most of them were Hufflepuffs, although there were a few Ravenclaws. Many of them gave her a wave or a smile, but few decided to actually talk to her. Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones were the only ones to wander over to say hello.

The Professor entered the classroom. "Hello class," she greeted the third years, "I am Professor Burbage.

"Now, you're all here to learn about Muggles. I will not tolerate any mockery towards the information you learn in this classroom. Everyone, we will begin with the culture."

Professor Burbage was pretty accurate, if you didn't count the last thirty years. Apparently, the Professor hadn't bothered to update her information. Hermione sighed, ashamed that her Professor, who claimed to have studied Muggle culture extensively, did not understand the very difference that separated Wizards from Muggles, longevity or the lack there of.

Both "Sub-species" of Human depended on the new generation, the Muggles, who had shorter life-spans, developed faster than wizards. Muggles changed the world around them to advance, where wizards stymied. It was the magic that separated them, true, but Hermione was simply positive that the longevity of Wizards was the thing that truly set them apart.

Fingers drummed across her desk, for the first time since setting foot in Hogwarts, Hermione was bored. She sat on the boarder of daydream and sleep, not even Professor Binns could force Hermione to totter on the edge so easily. She had grown tired of being furious at her professor's blatant lack of knowledge, and now? Now Hermione planned to suffer through the class for the entire year, because no matter how much she hated it, Hermione Granger _wasn't_ a quitter.

Leaving as soon as the professor gave the dismissal, Hermione rushed off to find one of her _other _nine o' clock classes. Finding a broom closet near the Arithmancy classroom, Hermione spun the glass. She set her watch back two hours, Hermione frowned, if this kept up, she would be roughly half an hour early to most of her classes.

Sighing, she exited the uncomfortable hiding place and wandered into the classroom. This class was filled with the majority of Ravenclaws and a few of the Slytherins, none of which were particularly mean to Hermione. Most of the class ignored her, which suited Hermione just fine. Once again, she sat alone, however, it didn't faze her.

The professor entered the room with a stack of parchments. "Class, I am Professor Vector. Today we'll start with an assessment test. This is to gauge your level of understanding in the field so I know where to start."

As it turned out, Arithmancy was perfect class to ease her frustrations. Complex and mind-bending problems were perfect challenges to her fury. Blocking out most of her surroundings, Hermione focused on her assigned assessment test, blissfully unaware of her classmates' groans.

The class ended on a happier note than the first, but, in a mix of hunger and disappointment, Hermione was in no mood to return to an hour before nine. "Tomorrow I need to pack a snack, or at least ask Professor McGonagall about access to the kitchens."

She made her way to the Library, hoping to gather her thoughts before spinning back and joining Harry and Ron. She set her watch back two hours, reminding herself that she needed to spin back at eight thirty. It was hard to think of anything but her hunger, but Hermione forced herself to concentrate. She knew exactly what she wanted to say, but her phrasing was off.

"Harry needs to train; trouble always finds him especially when people try to keep him away from it. I could use the time to get my homework done on time _and_ get my sleep. But how should I present this?" Hermione asked herself. She pulled out another piece of parchment and her fountain pen. She chewed on her lip, playing with the words. As it neared eight thirty, she headed for the bathroom. Not bothering to lock the door, she spun back two hours and waited.

Hermione listened as the other her walked into a stall and locked it. Getting out of her own, she walked towards the sink to wash up. Then she returned to the table, where Harry and Ron were waiting. Harry waved, "Hey, Hermione. Saved you some toast."

She smiled at him, and took both pieces. "Thanks Harry. Shall we head on up?" The boys nodded, and the trio began their journey to the North tower.

They got lost almost as soon as they reached the seventh floor. Harry was following Hermione, who was following Ron, who was following Harry. Each seemed to move in tandem, but no one actually knew which way was north. "Um, Hermione, are you sure you know where you're going?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Instantly, Hermione paused, "I'm just following Ron."

"But...Harry?" Ron said confused.

"Oh no! We've wasted ten minutes following each other! We'll never be on time now!" Hermione cried.

A loud greeting caught their attention, "Come now fair maiden, do not fret. I, Sir Cadogan, shall slay any beast who's caused you to trouble so."

"Er, good sir, may you by chance know the path to the North tower?" Hermione asked the painting.

"A ha! A Quest! Follow me fair maiden, good sirs," the knight replied enthusiastically. They followed the clinking of his armor and the sound of his cries. "Away, away you knaves," He yelled at the paintings he passed.

They followed him through the hall, until they reached a steel spiral staircase. They bounded up the ornate steps, quickening their climb as they got closer to the top. They continued until they could hear the voices of their classmates. They had reached classroom only to be short an entrance. Sir Cadogan gave them a dramatic farewell, and disappeared.

Harry looked about the landing. There were no doors, but as he looked up, he noticed a circular trapdoor. "Hey, guys, I think the classroom is up there."

A golden plate sat on the trap door words facing away from the steps, it read, 'Divination Class.' The trio moved from below it, and a silvery ladder shot down. Above them, the class quieted. "You boys first," Hermione stated, gesturing towards the latter.

Harry began climbing, red faced as Ron stood there slightly bewildered. He shrugged and followed Harry. She let out a sigh of relief, before joining them on the ladder.

The room was set as a cross between an old attic and a tearoom. Each of the twelve tables were white-washed wood with astrology symbols carved across the edges. They were circular, draped with a square cloth, frilled with pink lace. There were only two chairs to a table, and Hermione let Ron have the seat next to Harry, choosing a seat with Neville instead.

The incense-filled air nauseated the still hungry Hermione, who vowed to keep quiet and stay strong. "Where's the teacher?" she heard Ron ask between moments of haziness.

"Ah, Good morning students," A soft, misty voice called from behind a blanket of incense smoke and shadows. "It does my heart a pleasure to see you in the physical world at long last." She stepped forward, looking like a large over grown dragonfly. "I am Sybil Trelawney, and I welcome you to Divination.

"Many of you may not have seen me before, for I find the halls of Hogwarts are filled with too much negative energy. The one thing in this class that you'll find you'll need, is a clear, open mind. Negative energy clouds the inner eye, although I warn you, if you do not possess the Sight, there is little I can do for you.

"There are ways for those without the Sight to call on the magic of Divination; however, knowledge and book-learning will only take you so far. It is intuition and insight you must rely on," Professor Trelawney trailed off. "We will be covering the basics this year, tea leaves, palmistry, and, **by the way dear," She said suddenly to Parvati Patil, "beware a red-haired man."**

Startled, she gave Ron a questioning look. The professor continued, "Perhaps we shall continue to the crystal ball, but that is only if we have finished Tarot and fire omens. **Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our own will leave us forever."**

The next few moments of class were tensed in stunned silence. Professor Trelawney didn't seem to notice as she continued on, passing along instructions to her students. Slowly Hermione and Neville complied to their teacher's commands, but the latter was so nervous his tea cup slipped from his fingers.

Between Professor Trelawney's predictions and incense, there was a moment where Hermione snapped. She wasn't sure if it was the hunger or the anger that spurned her on, but before she could stop herself, Hermione rose to defend her friend. No matter how many times Trelawney would predict his death, she was _positive_ Harry wouldn't die anytime soon if Hermione had anything to say about it.

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Yes, I know, it's diverging slowly. But after the first day is over, things should change drastically.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'm actually shocked that I had so many from my first post. I was expecting one or two, maybe five at the most, but wow.

To **Alix33** and **gand982**, thanks for spotting the errors I missed.

To **whatweareafreaidof**: Don't worry there is no bashing of any characters any more than is in the books.

I only excluded Ron because right now he is not the same "son of Order members" Ron that is living during wartime. He is the quick to be jealous, possibly loose-mouth Ron who has less experience in keeping secrets than Harry, and less respect for authority than Hermione.

As a side note, Ron wasn't present for the oath taking, so even if Harry and Hermione wanted to tell him, they can't without McGonagall knowing and taking the Time-turner away and forcing Hermione either to drop her classes or switch into Ravenclaw ones. McGonagall is the one who doesn't want Ron to know, she barely bowed to Hermione's desperate plea to tell Harry! So, sorry, but Ron won't be finding out.

Oh, and before you ask, I'm having the classes be an hour, but [since it is a magical castle] the passing periods are going to be about half an hour, but even if she made it to her next class in record time, she'd still need to turn it back two hours just to be on time.

*Bold text: PoA pg 104 American Hardcover


	3. Lesson 3: The Choices that Make Us

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, just a creative mind and a really cool laptop named Mimni...oh, and lots of chocolate.

I got tired of writing introductions. Enjoy, ~Kit.

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Lesson 3 ~ The Choices that Make Us

She was angry, hungry and tired, and Divination caused a distraction Hermione had not needed. She pulled up her memory of her Arithmancy class, trying to focus on joy rather than anger, but it wasn't working.

"Oh, my dear child!" Professor Trelawney cried with an exaggerated gasp, "You have the...no, it's better if I don't."

"What is it?" Harry asked with bated breath.

The professor turned around sharply, candlelight caught on one of the baubles hanging from the professor's cloak, giving her a look of power. She looked over her shoulder, eyeing Harry as if he would drop dead on the spot, "My dear," she began in a wispier voice than usual, "you have...the Grim!"

A large portion of the class gasped, although Harry continued to stare confusedly at the teacher before him. He shot Hermione a glance asking her to help him understand, however, before she could open her mouth, the teacher continued, "My poor boy, oh, poor, poor boy, this is the worst omen...the omen of _death_."

She set the cup back down on the table, and collapsed in her seat. Hermione stood rashly and snatched the cup from the table. The class watched as she looked into the cup, "_I_ don't think it looks like the Grim, Professor. It looks more like a horse –"

"My dear, forgive me for my frankness, but perhaps your inner eye is clouded."

Hermione gritted her teeth at the teacher's assessment, but remained standing. _'Maybe it is,'_ she thought to herself, _'but my heart tells me Harry needs me to believe in him.'_

Seamus Finnigan snatched the cup from Hermione, "I dunno, if you squint, it kinda looks like a grim, but I think it looks more like a donkey."

"Have you decided if I'm going to die or not?" Harry asked angrily.

Hermione gave him a hard glare, "You won't be, not anytime soon."

The class ended soon after, the mood of the Gryffindors vastly diminished. The group of Gryffindors moved along sluggishly, sending furtive looks in Harry's direction as if they expected him to fall ill at any moment. Harry took comfort in Hermione's mumbled ramblings of 'Trelawney's fraudulent nature.' It was Ron that worried him the most, Harry thought that his best friend would at least try to comfort him, but he hadn't spoken since the giant dragonfly had taken his cup.

Harry had been so distracted by his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that he had already sat down. According to the glances he still felt, the rest of the Gryffindors had not let the negative thoughts of his future demise escape their minds. He sighed; it would be a long class.

It didn't take long for Professor McGonagall to notice something was amiss. At first, she thought they were simply worn out from the nostalgia high of being in the castle once again, but as her well-scripted lecture about Animagi drew to a close, she noticed no visible shift in demeanor. No one seemed to acknowledge her transformation from human to feline and back. That was when the stern professor decided to solve the social dilemma that surrounded Harry Potter.

"What's gotten into you?" she inquired. Her eyes wandered over the contemplative students, most of whom were unaware she had even asked the question. "Well?" the professor demanded.

Hermione glanced at Harry who seemed as unresponsive as the rest of the class. She wanted him to tell the professor himself, but as he was a bit busy sulking, she answered for him. "We just came from Divination, Professor. It wasn't pleasant."

"Ah," the professor nodded, realization shining in her eyes. "Which one of you is to die this time?"

"Professor?" Lavender asked.

"Sybil Trelawney does this every year. Seeing death omens is our esteemed Seer's favorite way to greet a class. So which one is it?" Harry raised his hand shakily. "Hm, quite the logical choice isn't it? Don't look at me that way Mr. Potter; you do have quite the track record." Harry hung his head and Professor McGonagall inwardly regretted her words. Trying to dissuade his doubts, she continued, "Divination is an imprecise subject. It relies on instinct and ambient magic, true Seers are very rare...

"You look quite well to me Mr. Potter, unless you'd like that stay in the Hospital Wing? However, if you do happen to keel over, you need not turn your homework in."

Harry felt a bit better and gave the professor a smile. It was not soon after, that the class was dismissed for lunch. Hermione gave the boys a signal to go ahead to lunch. Harry shook his head and told Ron to go on ahead.

"What do you want now?" He asked irritably.

"I just want to thank McGonagall, but I don't want to keep you from lunch," Harry replied quietly.

"Go on, I'll wait."

Stunned, Harry mumbled a thanks and walked up to Hermione and their professor. "Er," Harry interrupted, "Professor McGonagall, thanks for, um, what you said in class today..." he trailed off and found a sudden interest in his shoes.

Hermione held down a small giggle, mostly due to the seriousness of the situation, and gave Harry a quick, reassuring hug. "You're quite welcome Mr. Potter, now, why don't you head on to lunch. I'm sure Mr. Weasley is growing tired of waiting." Harry nodded and quickly left the room. "Now, Miss Granger, what did you wish to speak about?"

Suddenly Hermione's stomach gave a ferocious growl. "Well," she began with a wince, "The first thing I noticed was that spending an extra four hours in class leaves me rather hungry, I was wondering if there was any way for me to get something to eat in between classes."

Professor McGonagall gave her a stern look. "There is, but that is not why you asked for me...However, you must be starved. Mitzi," she called sternly.

There was a small pop and to Hermione's horror, a small wide-eyed, bat-eared creature appeared between the professor and Hermione. "I thought no one could apparate in Hogwarts."

"No ones can, Miss. Mitzi moved with elf magics," the house elf eeped and bowed her head. "Mitzi is sorry profissir and Miss."

"That's alright Mitzi, could you bring us some lunch?" The elf popped away. Professor McGonagall explained briefly, "Mitzi is a House Elf recently acquired by the headmaster. The family she used to work for passed on recently without any heirs, and she has expressed her wishes to bond with another family. She would have been assigned to one of the staff, but I know that it would be best if she bonded with you."

Hermione tilted her head and asked, "Can I get to know her first?"

"Of course, but I must ask of you, save any reservations about House Elves for after you understand them. Acting rashly could cause them to hate you," she spoke gravely. Another pop announced Mitzi's arrival. "Mitzi, I wanted you to meet Hermione Granger. She is a student here, a muggleborn with a hectic schedule. There will be times where she will be extra hungry away from the hall; I want you to bring her some food if she should call."

"Is Miss be my bonded?" Mitzi asked shyly.

Hermione slid out of her seat and sat on her knees. "My name's Hermione, I'd like to get to be friends first."

Mitzi looked up, "Miss be Muggleborn? Miss have family? Mitzi is good elf, wants take care of good family like past Master and Mistress."

"May I ask why, Mitzi?" Hermione prodded.

"Elves must be bonded Miss. Elves need bond to grow. Mitzi is young, but with no family, Mitzi can't haves babies," Mitzi stopped at Hermione's horrified face.

"You can't have children, why?" she looked at the creature then to her professor.

The aged witch gave Hermione a polite smile. "House elves feed off of wizarding magic, and although Hogwarts will sustain an elf, it is not enough. Without proper nourishment, any female will become infertile," Professor McGonagall paused and directed her attention to the elf. "Mitzi, if you work well with Miss Granger this year, she may wish to bond with you, but for now, thank you for the food." The elf nodded and disappeared. "Now, what was it that you wished to speak to me about earlier this morning?"

Hermione began with a loss for words. Everything she had prepared earlier escaped her. Shakily she sputtered out an apology and took a deep breath. "Professor, I would like permission to help train Harry. He told me about how Sirius Black is after him, and I think that since he is a magnet for trouble, he needs extra training in defense," she paused, observing Professor McGonagall's stern face remain neutral. "Harry isn't planning on hunting him down, or even meeting him at all, but you said yourself that Harry has a horrible track record, and since he knows about the Time-turner, I thought we could use it to help him be prepared."

The professor sat behind her desk, thinking. Hermione was a responsible student; Harry attracted trouble like an insult attracted an angry Hippogriff. The time they spent together would be well used, and it may even push the young Potter in other areas as well. If there was one thing the professor hated it was a student that didn't push their potential, or rather themselves for not being _able_ to push their students' potential. And yet, here was a chance to change young Harry Potter. He was James and Lily's son, he had so much potential it was a crime.

After what seemed like an eternity, Professor McGonagall gave her a resolute nod. "There is only one thing Miss Granger. _I_ will be supervising your training. Meet me in my office after dinner tonight."

"Oh! Yes Professor. Thank you," Hermione looked as if she wanted to hug the Transfiguration teacher.

"Off you go. You have a lesson with a very excited teacher." Minerva McGonagall watched fondly as her bright student rushed off, proud that her student was finally finding her wings.

"Ron, Harry," Hermione called as she neared Hagrid's hut. "Am I late?"

"No, actually," Ron informed her, "Class doesn't start for about another ten minutes. How was lunch with McGonagall?"

Hermione smiled, ignoring a few choice words from certain nasty Slytherins, "It went wonderfully! But, I'll tell you about it later."

The boys nodded in understanding, as Malfoy had chosen that moment to inch closer. Ron, however, did remark, "I'm not going to be joining you. I'd rather bug the guys to play chess."

The class took pleasure in distracting themselves, so much that they missed the arrival of 'Professor' Hagrid. In Hermione's mind, she acknowledged the change in his status; however, she found it quite difficult to refer to him as a professor. It seemed the rest of the class had similar problems, especially the whiniest Slytherin of them all. He and his two empty-headed followers were crouched over, whispering and snickering.

They had missed the first few instructions of the class, "Hullo class, follow me," Hagrid continued as he walked, "Yeh bes' be mindin' yer speech taday. The fellas we'll be workin' with are proud 'uns. Now, open up yer books."

"How?" Malfoy asked rudely, stunning the dear half-giant.

"Hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" he asked, looking poignantly at Hermione. At the small shake of her head, Hagrid motioned for hers. "Yeh got ter stroke em, look," He took the book from Hermione's fingers and ripped off the Spellotape that bound the thing shut. He gave it a friendly stroke, causing the book to shudder and fall open.

"Oh, all we had to was stroke it why didn't _anyone _think of that?" Malfoy snarled.

Harry had enough, "You know Malfoy, it would be a good idea to apologize."

"Oh, and why would I do that Potty?"

"Because," he began with a smile, "_Professor _Hagrid has the right to take away points and assign _detentions_." Hagrid's chest seemed to swell with pride; he too had forgotten his new powers as a professor.

Malfoy gave Harry a superior look, "My father would get me out of any detentions."

"I'm sure your father wouldn't find it becoming for a Malfoy to get detention due to disrespect. In fact he might not dare argue against it less it be brought to light that the heir to his estate was incapable of holding his temper," Hermione warned flatly.

Hagrid moved to put a stop to the arguing. "Alrigh', time ter move on. Next time yeh speek outa turn, yeh won' be 'appy losing points." With a surprising ease, Hagrid took control of the class, brought them to a small paddock, and instructed them to wait. Moments after he wandered in, Hagrid returned with a small herd of magnificent creatures.

"Be sure ter be mindful of yer words. Easily offended, don' ever insult on 'cause it migh' be the las' thing yeh do," Hagrid said authoritatively, eyeing the group of Slytherins messing around in the back. "So, who wants ter come up firs'?"

Harry looked around, no one seemed to want to. He guessed they actually took Hagrid's warning to heart. "I will," Harry spoke shakily. He wandered forward and waited for directions.

"Let him make the firs' move Harry," Hagrid instructed. "Yeh'll always want ter let a Hippogriff make the firs' move. Walk up ter him and bow. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter get closer, touch him even." He paused and gave the class a hard look, "If he doesn' bow yeh get away."

The class remained silent, staring at Hagrid with a strange, fearful respect. Even Malfoy had gone quiet, although Harry was sure he'd still do something to ruin Hagrid's day. "Now, Harry, let's see how yeh do with Buckbeak."

Harry gave his full attention to the dangerous beauty. Its sleek gray feathers shifted slightly as the creature shook itself. It followed Hagrid by its tether, and Harry suppressed a chill. He climbed over the paddock fence and moved forward. "Easy, Harry. Remember ter keep eye contact, try no ter blink...Hippogriffs won' trus' yeh if yeh blink too much..."

Shrugging off his urge to blink, Harry eased forward. He held Buckbeak's amber colored eyes with his own, giving him a slow bow. The half-eagle half-horse creature shifted its gaze, tilting its head. A million thoughts rushed through Harry's head, but he held his ground. Slowly, Buckbeak bent his silver fore-talons and fell into an arched bow.

There were many sighs of relief and a few bouts of cheers, but Ron was the one to alert Hermione to their favorite Slytherin's hateful glare. The next few moments filled the class with confidence and awe. Hagrid pulled Harry onto Buckbeak and sent it off. Ron and Hermione watched as their best friend slowly gained control of the beast, directing its flight with natural ease. He guided it back towards the paddock and brought it to rest.

As soon as he touched down, the class gained a touch of confidence. Slowly the class dissipated into the gathered herd. Class continued smoothly under the watchful eye of the proud professor, until Draco Malfoy took his arrogance to a new level.

"Ha, I knew it was easy," he bragged to Buckbeak. "You aren't dangerous at all are you? You great, ugly bru–"

He didn't get to finish as Hagrid had pulled him away from Buckbeak's talons. Unfortunately, one of the claws broke through the flimsy fabric of Malfoy's trousers, resulting in a long, but shallow gash along Malfoy's left leg. "What do yeh think yer doin' Malfoy!" Hagrid bellowed angrily. "I told yeh ter mind yer words 'round the Hippogriffs! Do yeh have a death wish!"

Malfoy wasn't listening, "Help me! Help, I'm Dying!"

"Yeh've only got a scratch boy. Yeh should be glad it's all yeh got. Hermione," Hagrid called angrily.

"Yes?" she asked, still shocked at how angry the usually gentle half-giant seemed.

"I wan' yeh ter take charge. Round up the Hippogriffs and tie 'em up. I'm taking this lump ter Madam Pomfrey."

She nodded and watched as Hagrid wandered off. _'Goodness, he's frightening when he's angry. I'm just glad he's not blaming himself.'_

Hermione turned her gaze to her fellow students, each as shocked as she was, she almost laughed, even the Hippogriffs looked stunned. No one complained as she took command of the class's assignment of tethering the creatures, they were too busy thinking about what had happened to Malfoy. It may not have been Potions, but no one wanted to mess around with Hagrid's class anymore.

Hermione rubbed her temple, this was definitely the worst first day of school ever.

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I worked hard to make this all work out. Tell me, how do you like Hagrid with a teacher's backbone? Malfoy on the path of redemption? Hermione with a House elf?

Hehehe...I'm disturbing the delicate balance that is Hermione Granger. Giving her a House elf was totally ironic.

So, review because I'm stalking them...no I'm not crazy. It's late and I'm high off my brain's chemical imbalances. Ha! What is sleep...?

But seriously, it's just the fact that I'm getting so much done I mean wow!

Also, I'd like to thank all who have reviewed thus far. I'm so happy about getting so many reviews; it makes me all hyper and giddy. Your comments make my day, and I _do _stalk them as I write. It is thanks to your words of encouragement and the story's increasing popularity [in my mind anyway] that I am able to write so fast.

Thanks to **alix33** for spotting yet another mistake.


	4. Lesson 4: Time With Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All I have is a crazy idea and a drive to write.

Okay, this chapter was so hard to write, which is why it took a little longer. But I'm so sorry it did. I hope you'll forgive me enough to review, because I didn't get the chance to edit as much as I usually do.

Anyways, enjoy, ~ Kit.

* * *

Lesson 4 ~ Time With Friends

Hermione sent the class off early, as she was sure their professor would be much too busy dealing with the drama queen Malfoy to return. The class didn't complain, although most stayed a while, petting a Hippogriff or two. Most Gryffindors went up and thanked Buckbeak, but no matter what the cause, Hermione chewed them out for 'encouraging violence' in the 'innocent creature.'

The majority of Gryffindors had a free period after class, but some like Hermione walked through the halls towards their next class. Hermione practically skipped to the Ancient Runes classroom, eagerly awaiting its promising challenges.

She allowed herself to block out any thoughts and worries that had built up during the day and simply focused on the gentle tones of the lecturing Professor Babbling and the scratch of her quill.

While Hermione lost herself in rune-work, Harry and Ron were lounging around the paddock. They sat on an old log that sat a few feet away from the tethered Hippogriffs, talking as they waited for Hagrid.

"Hey Harry," Ron began casually, "something's been bugging me. I know you said that you need to study extra with Hermione because of Black, but do you really want to?"

"Actually, yeah," Harry replied distantly. "I mean, last year, when Hermione was...you know petrified, we sort of...well, I sort of fell apart. I was a mess, and I know that if it weren't for Hermione's insight or her ability to think ahead many more people would have died."

Ron nodded, "Yeah, in a way she saved Ginny just as much as you did with that clue. I get it; you're just trusting her again."

Without a word, Harry slid off the log and pulled at the grass.

They lapsed into silence, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun. Harry kept playing with the blades of grass at his feet, thinking about everything that had happened. He didn't feel much as time passed between them, as Harry was lost to the world before Ron shook his shoulder. Harry turned his head to see that Hagrid had returned. The two scrambled up, and rushed over to their friend.

"Hagrid!" Harry called as they neared the half-giant. "That was –" He stopped when he saw Hagrid's face. "What's wrong?"

Tears streaked down Hagrid's face and disappeared into his bushy beard. "I'm a horrible teacher Harry."

"Why do you say that? Class was awesome!" Ron exclaimed, earning him a small smile from Hagrid.

"I lef' yeh alone with the Hippogriffs. Someone coulda gotten hurt!" Hagrid bawled.

Harry patted his back, "But Hagrid, Malfoy was the only one that got hurt. If we were fine with the Hippogriffs without you, you must have been a marvelous teacher. I'm sure you did the right thing."

"Yeah," Ron cut in. "Hermione made sure we tethered them up before we took the rest of class off. Not even the Slytherins acted up, and _that's_ saying something."

"Watch, we'll even help you bring them in!" Harry exclaimed.

Harry and Ron spent the remainder of their free period soothing Hagrid and playing with the tamer Hippogriffs, although they begged off before Hagrid could invite them in for his infamous rock cakes. Both were happy that their friend's new confidence soared higher, but neither wanted their teeth lost to the rock cakes.

Hermione found the two by the lake, and as soon as she sat down, Harry asked, "What did McGonagall say when you asked her about our extra studies?"

Hermione's eyes lit up, "Oh, it's fantastic! Professor McGonagall practically told me she'd be training us herself. She's going to monitor Harry and me while we practice after dinner until curfew. It's so exciting."

Ron made a face, "Bloody Hell, that's almost two whole hours of study!" Hermione simply shot him a smile. "You're mental!"

"Aw, come on Ron," Harry groaned, expecting an argument to erupt. "It's not the end of the world, I even promise to play a few games of chess if McGonagall and Hermione don't train me to the ground."

"I'm sure that if we learn anything interesting, we'll be able to invite you along. I promise that I won't leave you out if you want to join us," Hermione mentioned soothingly.

"No thanks," Ron shot back. "I'd just get in the way or something. But in return, you have to stop pestering me about my homework this year."

"I do _not_ pester you," Hermione huffed.

Trying to circumvent an argument, Harry asked, "Well, now that _that's_ all figured out, why don't we head to dinner?" They all laughed as Ron's stomach gave a loud grumble.

Dinner, like most other meals, was come and go. It was open from five to seven o' clock, and rarely did students stay for the entire meal.

Unlike breakfast and lunch, dinner had a stranger hustle and bustle. Recountings of classroom moments washed over the crowded hall in moments, and a tale of Malfoy's arrogance filtered through in less. Even the Slytherins had to admit that what he had done was a mistake, knowing that Professor Snape would be quite angry. The classroom was not the place to do as you pleased; as a potions master, it was the first of the Snape Rules. The second, of course, was don't get caught, and if Malfoy lost any more points for classroom misconduct, the Slytherins would have to remind him of their first lessons.

Gryffindor was a different story. Malfoy's folly raised questions, the most common being about Hagrid's reactions. Many knew the half-giant as a gentle fellow with odd tastes, but no one had expected him to be so cold to a student. Most believed that Hagrid would have been in his hut, crying over something not in his control. Hermione was among those students who were glad that Hagrid wasn't what they thought he'd be.

Ron however, had more pressing concerns; in front of him was his favorite, golden-skinned chicken specially seasoned with orange blossom honey. He ate them only slowly enough to let the grease settle on his tongue before taking another leg. He always made sure to have at least one on his plate at all times, just in case the kitchens ran out.

A few greens found their way to his plate courtesy of Hermione, but he ignored both the greens and the glare shot at him for not eating them. Dinner was Ron's favorite meal, so it was no surprise that the trio stayed the full two hours waiting for Ron to finish his meal, two of the three watching in disgust at Ron's ability to eat undeterred.

As rumors tended to spread, Harry spoke in light tones while telling Hermione about Hagrid's concerns.

By the time dinner ended, Ron was happy to head off to the tower. He didn't seem to mind that he'd be going alone, as they did just watch him down about twelve pieces of chicken and a slice of pie.

"I'll be waiting for that game, mate," Ron said as he parted. This soothed Hermione and washed away any guilt Harry had built up in his chest. Harry gave him a wave and allowed himself to be pulled down the corridor by the enthusiastic Hermione.

To say Hermione was excited would be like saying Oliver Wood liked Quidditch, it was a downright understatement, more so to Harry as he was in the process of having his arm ripped off. "Hey, Hermione?" Harry began shakily. "Do you think we could slow down?" Unfortunately, Hermione didn't hear him and sped up. Harry gave his friend a glare, but picked up the pace.

"Ah, Miss Granger," A stern voice greeted Hermione as she pulled Harry around the corner. "And Mr. Potter, good timing. I have a room prepared near Gryffindor Tower. Follow me."

Harry jerked his arm from Hermione's loosened grip and gave a pleased sigh. The group moved at a more even pace, although Hermione seemed so jittery that he thought she might miss a step as they climbed up the Grand Staircase. He gave her a small smile, aware that she would be too excited to see it. Harry had never seen Hermione act like a child hopped up on sugar, but throw her into a training session with her favorite professor; it was...something else.

They stopped at a portrait of a young witch. She had long dirty blond hair that fell past her chest. The golden strands framed her pale face, although one stand seemed to cling fiercely against her left cheek. Her navy eyes gazed dreamily out an arched window, open to a starry night and a soft breeze. She sat there, the soft green of her cloak visible to her audience as she waved her wand, showering the canvas with vibrant colors.

"Hello," the portrait said to them as the colors began to fade. She spoke to the professor, "Are those the two you were talking to me about earlier?"

"Yes, Aurora. This is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. The three of us are the only ones to be allowed in unless I specify otherwise."

"Would you like to set a password Professor?" Aurora asked, sending more colors into her starry sky.

"It is not necessary at the moment," Professor McGonagall spoke before turning to the students. "I will only be with you for three hours of turned time, but Aurora will be watching you anytime you decide to enter. She will tell me if you do anything but study and practice spells while I am not present. Is that clear?"

"Yes Professor," the two spoke honestly.

With a nod, Aurora swung open. The professor allowed the students in first, giving a parting thanks to the portrait. Once the painting swung shut, Aurora appeared on a starry-skied knoll. She lay back and stared at the twinkling stars, attention divided between a sudden burst of magic and the painted sky.

Hermione spun the group back tree hours, landing them in the same room, only dustier. Aurora was not in her second portrait, and the professor sent a few quick spells to remove any dust.

"Now, why don't we all grab a seat," Professor McGonagall commanded softly. The two students complied, choosing a nice spot on the old couch that sat in the corner. "Not there, the floor please."

Confused, Harry and Hermione moved towards the center of the room and took a spot on the floor. The professor gave her students a smile. "The first thing I am going to teach you is the discipline called meditation. While it is normally not taught until fifth year in Defense, I believe that it will be of great benefit for this particular venture. We will spend the beginning of our sessions until five o' clock in meditation each day.

"Now before we begin, I would like to give you a bit of background as to why this is needed," Professor McGonagall paused. "While many will subconsciously organize their thoughts and calm their mind regularly, controlled and guided meditation allows a witch or wizard the ability to connect to their magical core and organize thoughts and memories. There is also a specific form of guided mediation meant to unlock Animagi forms, but that is not taught until NEWT Transfiguration. Now, let us begin; close your eyes."

She sat in a small wooden chair and spoke in a light tone, "First, I want you to find something to focus on. It can be anything, an image, your breath, even the sound of my voice. Simply focus and allow everything else to melt away."

Although the sound of her voice was hypnotic, Harry could not help but fidget. He tensed, trying to will away a sudden itch.

"Try not to fidget, and do not get angry when a stray thought crosses your mind. Instead, acknowledge it and allow it to play out. The thought will leave on its own. Remain calm, and focus."

Hermione's thoughts flew about her mind. She tried her best not to get frustrated, but no matter how many times she tried to block them out, they kept refocusing. She took a deep breath and decided to try a new focus.

"Now, allow your mind to spread outward, touch the sounds and magic around you and drink them in. Let them fill you, become a part of you, pull the feelings inside you."

The magic around them was crisp and cold. It held very little life in it, and Hermione realized why the magic of Hogwarts could only sustain House Elves. Harry's magic and her own were warmer, livelier than the ambient magic, it was welcoming and friendly.

"Follow the sensations as they shiver beneath your skin, let them guide you as you explore your inner selves. Allow the magic to touch your own, and pull it into your center..." The aged witch continued to guide them, until the clock neared five.

"Now then," she said softly, "I want you to slowly return the magic outward. Expand your awareness back into the room. Allow your focus to lessen."

The rest of their session with Professor McGonagall continued in a similar fashion. First, she would tell them how they would spend their next hour, spell theory and the applications of their new spell, followed by an hour of practice. Then, she would teach them and guide them until she deemed them fit to study on their own. Finally, when the clock struck seven, McGonagall led them behind a large bookshelf and told them that they would be allowed to use any of the books on the shelves for their homework.

They waited behind the shelves until their past selves disappeared in a flash of magic.

"Now remember," Professor McGonagall began, gesturing to the painting. "Aurora will be watching to make sure you behave. Meet me here every day after dinner," and with that, she left the two in the room, alone with a curious young witch who had nothing better to do than ask them about their training.

"So, what did you learn, huh?" she asked from beneath her oak tree.

"Professor McGonagall taught us the stunner spell," Hermione informed her. She looked down and blushed a bit, she had been secretly jealous that Harry had done better than her. "She also introduced us to meditation."

"Oooh! Tell me, does the castle still feel cold? Or has it warmed up?" Aurora inquired.

Harry answered this time, "It's cold, but I think I pulled some of Hermione's magic in too, because some of it felt warm."

Aurora gasped and gave him a judging look as she tried to assess his level of injury. "Hmm, you _look_ alright, but I think that you should be more careful. Pulling in someone else's magic is _very_ dangerous. If you aren't close enough to the person, their magic could cause an illness called the wizard's flu. Children often get it by pulling at their guest's magic or sometimes even House Elf magic."

The conversation simply died after that. Aurora decided to leave them alone, and continued to conjure an array of greens into the sky.

Harry and Hermione settled into a quiet calm, occasionally broken by a question and its answer. They started on Transfiguration, which led to a discussion about Animagi forms. They argued the most useful to the most extravagant, witling away their time before finishing their essays, after which, Harry found he had nothing to do.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry asked looking over her shoulder. "What do you have?"

She looked up, "I only have a few Arithmancy exercises and an essay for Muggle Studies, but I was going to practice drawing some of the runes. In fact, why don't you take a look at them?" She handed him her textbook, but he shook his head and wandered over to the shelf. Instead he occupied his time with Hermione's favorite, _Hogwarts, A History_. Her smile wavered for a second, but Hermione shook her head, _'He probably is studied out, although why he decided on that book...'_

She finished most of her essay, but decided to revise it tomorrow as her mind seemed to wander off. Hermione slid to the floor and crouched over the table, slowly, she began tracing the runes, mumbling their meanings as she drew them.

Harry peeked over her shoulder, waiting until she put her quill down. "Are those the runes?" he asked, curious.

"Yeah, they activate when you trace on special surfaces, but sometimes they will only activate if you trace entire phrases with your wand. Each rune has its own meaning, and they exist in more than one form or even language," Hermione explained.

Harry nodded and watched Hermione work. "What can they do?"

"The runes?" Harry nodded. "Well if they are placed properly, runes can form wards or powerful spells. Once, long ago, when magic was more open, people used runes to summon creatures and animals to battle with one another. However, most, if not all, of those sequences or phrases died with their creators."

Harry blinked, digesting the odd tidbit of information Hermione had presented him before glancing at the clock. "Hey Hermione," Harry began.

"Yes?"

"We'd better get going or we'll be out past curfew."

Roughly two minutes before curfew, Harry was seen collapsing into a seat next to Ron, who was in the process of demolishing Neville's queen.

"Aw, not again!" Neville groaned. "I give up. Harry, it's your turn."

Bravely, Harry took the seat across from Ron and allowed his best friend to knock the stuffing out of his army men. They laughed as Harry's chess army fell accompanied by dramatic commentary from said loser.

The week passed on peacefully. Malfoy was locked up in the Hospital under the strict eye of Madam Pomfrey, mostly because he decided to play the victim. He was stir crazy in his self imprisonment, and because he insisted on complaining about a non-existent pain in his leg, he could not be let go.

Madam Pomfrey had a strict policy. Any student was free to come in, skip class with their false pains that did not show up on her scans, but instead of letting them out, Madam Pomfrey kept them in. She wouldn't let them leave the Hospital Wing until they admitted they were faking, but Malfoy didn't want to quit.

"Mr. Malfoy, you are ready for release. To get around the school, you will be using these. I will be checking up on you during the week, and I will be informed if you decide to dispose of them," She told him squarely.

"What are they?" he asked.

"Crutches. They are a Muggle invention that –"

"I am not using anything made by Muggles!" Malfoy exclaimed rudely.

"Well then you will be staying in the wing until you are feeling better," Madam Pomfrey spoke definitively.

"Gah!" he exclaimed angrily. "Alright, I admit it! I'm fine. I have been since last week! Let me out!"

"Oh, no, no, Mr. Malfoy. I think you need a night in the Hospital Wing just to be sure."

* * *

To clear things up, Harry is not joining Hermione's classes. He is joining her study sessions only. He's learning through Hermione, and this is important...well, you'll see why later on. Right now, Harry isn't interested in switching classes, and by the time he does want to, it'll be too late. He can't drop Divination either until the end of the year because he needs two electives. Next year though...you'll see.


	5. Lesson 5: Surprises in Wake

Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. Sad, but true.

Sorry about the delay, I was busy packing and moving. College is upon me, but I'll update as soon as possible. Normally I wait 'til the end, but...

To **Darkness-Lightness:** It's funny you should ask that...

As always, enjoy. ~ Kit.

* * *

Lesson 5 ~ Surprises in Wake

An itch in her lower lip enticed Hermione to bite into it. She sat on the stone floor, angry at herself yet again. Why could she not let go?

Her mind was a storm of thoughts, tornadoes of insults thrown at her by other students, hurricanes of insight and logic, typhoons and tsunamis of schoolwork. To Hermione it seemed her only reprieve from the torrent of thought was Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. But even after finding her foci, Hermione still had trouble.

Expanding her awareness had been simple; it was observation, multitasking, something she understood. Touching the magic of Hogwarts was easy; it just sat there, lifeless, waiting for her. But delving inside herself, that was a challenge.

Hermione easily manipulated her conscious, as it came naturally to her, but her subconscious seemed beyond her reach. During meditation, she saw words. No feelings or images filtered through her mind, only thoughts and words, numbers and runes. Once again, she was jealous of Harry for doing something she could not, lose herself in pure emotion.

Harry had memories of pure joy and excitement from his constant flights and games; Hermione only had the pleasure of vicarious emotions that sprang from the well-worn pages of her well-read books...well that and anger...

Hermione decided to drop the frustration and self-pity that weighed on her mind. Slowly, she joined her friend on the couch.

He looked up from his charms essay and smiled. "Calling it quits?" he asked.

"No," she spoke stubbornly, "just taking a break."

He blinked at her and tilted his head. "What's bothering you?"

She sank deeper into the couch, "It's this whole mindscape ideal. I don't think I can do it. All I get are words! Some are printed, some are written, some are even runes and equations, but none of my 'images' get me anywhere," She took a great pause. "How do you do it?"

Harry wanted to help her, really, he did, but he had no words to describe his process. "I don't know, I just...it always feels like a dream, but I know it's not...kind of like daydreaming...but more focused," he trailed off. A few seconds later he exclaimed, "I know! Instead of trying to create an image, why don't you project yourself into a book?"

She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Harry closed his eyes, trying desperately to string the right word together. "Well, you like to read," he began bluntly. "But I'm sure you don't only read textbooks and spell books. So why don't you put yourself in an old fictional story?"

Hermione gave him a nod. "Thanks Harry. That could help loads," she paused, blushing slightly. "Do you think I can borrow Hedwig tomorrow to send a letter to my parents?"

"Sure," he smiled, "Hedwig would love the exercise."

As Hermione scurried off to write her letter, Harry turned to the portrait. "Aurora?"

"Hm. Yes? What is it?" she replied, turning away from her conjuring.

"Why are you always conjuring colors into the sky?" he asked. Hermione continued to write, but listened attentively.

She smiled at him. "That is a story." She sat on the grassy hill, and continued, "Originally I was the portrait of a young spell-crafter named Aurora Ilene. Her favorite spell was the Borealis, a color-conjuring spell that was created for children. However, the first few attempts were larger and somewhat permanent. The colors were scattered by the wind, only to return in later years in the Polar Regions," She paused, allowing both Harry and Hermione to absorb the information.

"Eventually Aurora Ilene perfected her spell and conjured many rainbows and 'auroras' for young children. She took to being called Ilene after her nephew discovered the original spell on a venture and named the lights after her. As time passed, she became Ilene of Light and I became Aurora, timeless painting and conjurer.

"As a side note, Ilene was also the first person to associate Light with good. Although I believe that the association of darkness with evil came much later," Aurora informed him.

Hermione frowned, "Why was the spell named Borealis? In Muggle lore the Northern lights were named after Aurora, Roman Goddess of Dawn, and Boreas, Greek personification of the Northern Wind."

The painting gave her a shrug and conjured another green glow. "I don't know. I am not Ilene, and I was not impressed with all of her memories," she paused as the magical clock ticked behind the two teens. "Oh, dear! You'd better go, it's getting late."

Hermione had already packed, and told him she'd wait outside. However, Harry seemed pensive. Cautiously he asked, "Do you know the spell that Ilene used for the smaller effect?"

Aurora's dream-colored eyes seemed to sparkle with magic. "I may only be able to conjure on my two special canvases, but I assure you I know them. Would you like me to teach you later?"

Harry nodded and began to pack, "But, I want to keep it from Hermione."

"Oh? A special surprise, hm?" She prodded, earning a small blush from the young teen. "I teach you as she meditates tomorrow." Both teen and painting moved to the hall. "Good night you two!" Aurora called as they parted.

"Pleasant Conjuring Aurora," they responded, watching the portrait return to her favorite activity.

Thursday morning weighed heavily on the third year Gryffindors, but Ron was the first to complain, "Double Potions, first thing? Can you believe it?"

"It's not _that_ bad, Ron," Hermione scolded automatically.

Many of her fellow year mates glanced at her awkwardly. "I don't know how you can defend him, Hermione," Harry voiced warily. "He's..." Harry craned his neck assuring that Snape was nowhere near, "He's a hateful man that doesn't deserve your respect." He winced reflexively, believing the potions master would appear behind him.

Hermione shook her head and turned away, not wanting to admit that he was right. Professor Snape stormed by in the hall, giving the grumbling third years an icy glare. "In. Now," he commanded with elegant ferocity.

The students exchanged worried glances, each wondering if they would be the target of their most fearsome professor's anger. Harry tried to make himself as tiny as possible, desperately wishing to avoid the harsh gaze that was Snape. They rushed in and quickly took their seats. Harry had set up his cauldron next to Ron before searching for Neville and Hermione. They were two tables behind them, he sighed, _'Hermione's definitely miffed.' _

Harry thought of how he would handle the rest of class; Hermione had compared Potions to cooking, but although he liked to cook, he hated making potions. He was pondering his situation when Snape gave them their instructions for the Shrinking Solution and decided that he would remove his teacher from the subject and see how it went.

First came the cutting of the daisy roots. They needed to be finely and evenly sliced; he had plenty of practice with that. Preparation of the roots took Harry ten minutes under his focused mind. He was oblivious to the strange look Snape had thrown his way and worked on skinning his shrivelfig.

After another half an hour of prep work, Harry double checked the instructions in both his book and the board. He frowned as he found that the clearer instructions on the blackboard occasionally deviated from the books recipe. Knowing Snape had a mastery in the "art of potion-making," Harry decided to dissuade his disrespectful tendencies and began copying his teacher's instructions into his book.

Then he began his work.

It wasn't long after that his gaze flickered towards the entrance as the wood frame creaked. Malfoy had opened the door, strutting in heroically. Harry ignored his banter with the less approachable Slytherins and continued to work. He tried his best to focus on his potion as Malfoy took a clear spot next to his table.

"Have you seen your friend, Potter?" Malfoy asked as he began chopping his daisy roots.

'_Add in the rat spleen, stir clockwise three times,' _Harry thought forcefully.

"Father was most upset about my injury, you know," he tried.

Harry smirked, "I'm sure he's just upset that his son is so ignorant he'd ignore his teacher's three warnings."

Malfoy flushed. "I'll have you know Father _will_ have words with the Board of Governors over the actions of your pitiful friend –"

"What a whiner," Ron mumbled to Harry as they continued working on their potions.

Malfoy had stopped his work and sneered at the two. "Malfoy's don't whine," he hissed as the professor's gaze settled on their table.

'_A dash of leech juice, stir counter clockwise once,' _Harry thought as Snape made his way to Malfoy's side. _'Once it turns lime green turn down the heat and let it stew for ten minutes.'_

"Malfoy," Snape barked. "Get to work." Said student turned to his favorite teacher, wide-eyed in confusion. Harry glanced up; Snape's face was pulled into one of the deepest snarls he had ever seen. His black eyes were stern with the slightest hint of anger. "Was I not clear? Get. To. Work."

"Yes sir," Malfoy spoke meekly, returning to his potion. Harry glanced at the snake's table and smirked, Malfoy would need half an hour after class to finish his potion.

Much to the class's surprise, Harry was the first to finish with a perfect potion. If it weren't for the fact that Neville and Hermione were under the potion master's scrutiny at the moment, he would have suspected the boy of cheating.

Harry watched as Hermione subtlety directed Neville, turning his potion from poisonous to passable.

"Hey, did you hear?" Seamus whispered from behind them. "Sirius Black was spotted not too far from here."

Malfoy stopped his work, as Ron whispered back, "Not too far? Who was it?"

"It was a Muggle woman, she spotted him a phoned the hotline, but by the time the Ministry got there he was gone," Seamus informed them.

Harry looked pensive, unaware of the suspicious gaze of Draco Malfoy. "Need something Malfoy?" Ron spat at the arrogant blond.

"Thinking of going after him, Potter?" He hissed viciously. "I know I would have if it were me."

Harry almost laughed, "Are you nuts? Why would _anyone_ in their right mind go after a dangerous _murderer_?"

"You-you mean you don't know?" Malfoy asked with a malicious glint of glee.

Ron mumbled, "Know what? That you're insane?"

Malfoy began to speak above a whisper, catching the attention of those around him, "I would want revenge, of course, but maybe you're a coward –"

"Might I ask, Mr. Malfoy, why you insist on yammering nonsense instead of working on your potion?" Snape asked the Slytherin in a dangerously silky tone.

"Sorry, sir. I –" Malfoy began fumbling for the caterpillar he needed.

Snape growled, "Get to work." Class went quite after that, only the sound of corks being shoved into newly filled vials could be heard above Malfoy's labored breathing.

As class reached its end, Snape announced that Neville would have his potion tested on his toad, Trevor. "Well Longbottom, Let's see how you did."

Tree drops of a sickly green potion were given to the toad. Slowly, the creature was suddenly a tadpole. The Gryffindors clapped politely as Snape reversed Neville's potion. Anger flashed in his eyes, he snarled, "Granger! Did I not instruct you to leave Longbottom to his own devices? Five points from Gryffindor!"

Harry gritted his teeth as Hermione wilted beneath Snape's fury. She said nothing, but her inaction cemented her 'guilt' in the potions master's eyes.

As they left the dungeons, Hermione lagged behind. She gave Harry a smile and tapped the Time-turner beneath her robes. Harry got the message and began to distract Ron. She seemed to blink out of existence before reappearing. "...and that slimy bat shouldn't be able to get away with it!"

Hermione sighed, "It doesn't really matter Ron. How about we just get some lunch?"

A goofy smile engulfed Ron's face as he marched towards the Great Hall. Harry shook his head. "Only food could get Ron this worked up," Harry mumbled as he trailed behind his friend.

"Clearly you've never seen Ron at a Gryffindor Quidditch Match," Hermione shot back with a grin.

Lunch was a quiet affair, many students were too busy to gossip. Those who had classes closest to the Hall, like the third year Gryffindors and Slytherins, were relaxed, taking their time with their meal. Others were rushing in, taking seats, and eating quickly. However, very few talked.

The quiet lunch was the perfect outlet for Hermione to reflect on her conversation with Mitzi.

"_Miss Mione," Mitzi began, "has you been thinking about Mitzi being with Miss Mione's family?"_

_Hermione set down her blueberry muffin. Slowly, she told the elf, "I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable _owning_ you..." Mitzi's head dipped. "I like having you around, but...I don't know. Give me more time?"_

_Mitzi nodded with a half smile. "Mitzi likes Miss Mione. Mitzi will wait!"_

She still wasn't sure. Mitzi was adorable, energetic and reliable, but what if accepting the bond would change that? She knew the House Elf would insist on taking care of her family, but how would her parents respond to taking in a magical 'maid?' Wait...her parents! _'Was there something I was going to...My letter!' _

"Harry, Ron, I'll meet you in class," Hermione said quickly. She strode out the hall as quickly as she could, heading up to the Owlery. Her cloak snapped at her heals as she rushed through the halls. _'I should have mailed this off before breakfast. It's not even sealed!' _

"Hmm. Actually, that's lucky," She mumbled to herself, removing the letter from the thick envelope.

'_P.S. How would you feel about taking in a House Elf. They are magical servants who feed off a witch or wizard's excess magic. They are kind of like maids and chefs rolled into one, and Mitzi is currently attending to me because of my mentioned situation. She really wants a family,' _she scribbled onto the letter before slipping it back into its envelope. "Hedwig!" she called. The owl her a sharp glance and fluttered onto Hermione's arm. "Harry said it was okay to ask you, so...do you think you could take this to my parents?"

Hedwig gave her a strict glare, and held out her leg.

"Oh, thank you Hedwig." The owl's gaze softened. "Here," Hermione said, holding out an owl treat. "Be safe, and wait for a reply please."

Hedwig took off, leaving Hermione to ponder her parents' reactions to her letter. She was so lost in thought that she forgot to skip the trick step. Her eyes widened, she was going to be late!

By the time she pulled herself out of the menacing step, Hermione was a minute late. Fortunately, she spotted the defense class migrating towards the Professors' Lounge. She rushed to join them, making it in time to see a wad of pink gum shoot out of a keyhole and into Peeves's nose.

Professor Lupin lead them into the lounge, which was nearly empty. Professor Snape gave their class on sneer-filled glance and left with a snarky remark. "I'd watch out for Longbottom there Lupin. He's capable of messing anything up."

The door closed with a slam, and the wardrobe at the other end began to shake. "Hmm, well then class, who can tell me what's in that wardrobe?" Instantly, Hermione's hand way in the air. "Miss Granger?"

"It's a Boggart, isn't it?"

"Correct, five points to Gryffindor. Boggarts are shape-shifters who prefer cold, dark places. No one has ever seen the true form of a Boggart as they take the form of whatever their victim fears the most," he paused. "We're at an advantage at the moment, can anyone tell me why?" Again, Hermione's hand rose into the air at lightning speed. "How about you Mr. Potter?"

Harry blinked. "Is it because there's so many of us?" he asked, frowning slightly as the wording seemed off.

"That's right. Unless everyone had the exact same 'greatest fear,' a Boggart would not be able to transform properly..." He continued to explain the specific nature of a Boggart and how to fend it off. "However, the best way to be rid of a Boggart is laughter.

"Now the spell is simply, _Riddikulus_," the professor's eyes shined at his small pun, but many of the students seemed confused. "Say it with me now..._Riddikulus_!"

The class responded with vigor. Professor Lupin smiled and motioned Neville forward.

"Good now, let's begin. Mr. Longbottom, what is it that you fear the most?"

No one in class expected things to turn out as they did. As soon as the words, "Professor Snape" left Neville's mouth, a large grin formed on the professor's face.

"Tell me Neville, what does your grandmother wear?"

The rest of class passed in a blur, but every single student that left the lounge had the most vivid memory of Professor Snape. Needless to say, dinner rumors would be praising both Professor Lupin and Neville Longbottom, bringers of the Vulture-hatted Snape in drag.

* * *

I know it's a bit rushed, but I wanted to get something out for all of you. I hope you'll forgive me, because the week has been hectic. I'm actually posting this now because I don't know if I will get my internet up and running anytime soon. Hopefully the set up is quick, but who knows?

Keep reviewing people; reviews give me purpose. Also, if you spot errors, please tell me. I honestly didn't have enough time to power-edit like I usually do.

By the way, who's up for seeing Luna early? It'd be fun to throw her in wouldn't it?


	6. Lesson 6: Training Daze

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't need a loan for college.

Enjoy, Kit.

* * *

Lesson 6 ~ Training Daze

When Harry heard that they'd be training with McGonagall, he was positive that her strict nature would run him to the ground. Instead, Harry and Hermione received a focused and mostly relaxed class in meditation, spells and theory. Meditation had left the pair alert and focused, but once McGonagall had ended their meditation lesson, she nailed both teens with a strict gaze.

"Before we begin, I would like make this _very _clear," She paused to reinforce point. "The Stunning Spell is not a toy. It is not to be used against anyone unless you are in imminent danger. Other than that, you are to _only_ use this spell on the training dummies, which are charmed to register when the spell hits correctly.

"The reason I even considered teaching you this spell is because it will confuse Black, as he will not be expecting you to know this spell. However, even if your spell is successful, you _must_ flee."

Harry and Hermione gazed hesitantly at each other, neither knowing if they had it in them to run.

"Do not confront Sirius Black, ever. He was dangerous even as a student, a very creative and successful prankster, which probably transferred over to more dangerous and damaging spells. Is that clear?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.

"Yes, Professor," the two chorused.

She nodded and continued, "If your opponent is stronger than you magically, they have the ability to overpower your stunner. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of focus, but for someone who is as driven as Black, it will be easy to overpower any third year's stunner."

They then spent the remainder of their study hours learning the spell theory and the spell itself. The lesson was wrapped in a neat explanation of theory; you needed to want it. Intent was the focus of the stunning spell, and if you didn't want to really stun the person, you wouldn't. Next came the word of power, _Stupefy_. Harry botched his first few castings by mispronouncing the word slightly as 'stuptify,' which had no magical meaning what so ever.

After they ironed out the major kinks, it all boiled down to 'mastering' the spell. It would take Harry three days and Hermione a week before the two of them could make the spell properly effective.

The next spell they were taught was _protego,_ the shield spell. They received no special instruction, as this was a defensive spell, but they were warned that their shield would only defect weak spells until they themselves were able to sustain shields with more power.

At the moment, Harry was disappointed. Every shield he had thrown up flickered and died within moments of its creation. He was jealous of Hermione, who had grasped the spell more easily; however, McGonagall kept telling her that she needed to focus.

Harry sighed as McGonagall wandered over. "How is it going Mr. Potter?" she asked evenly.

He braved a smiled, "Not well professor, I can't seem to bring up the shield."

"Hmm, what are you thinking of?"

Part of the lesson had been about what they wanted to protect, but Harry had only been half-listening at that time, seeing as he actually was busy thinking. "Umm, I'd rather not say..." he blushed and turned away, missing the amused gaze the lit up her eyes.

"Well, try to think of something more precious and remember to focus on the feeling of protecting he-it," she reminded him with a chuckle.

Not noticing the slip of the tongue, he nodded and gripped his wand tightly. He thought of the important things in his life and found himself a bit lacking. He owned very little sentimental things, and even then, the only thing he would ever be protecting was the invisibility cloak. He was stuck. _'If wanting to protect my dad's cloak isn't enough, maybe I'm thinking about this wrong.'_

He knew he'd never really risk his life for his father's cloak, so what would he risk it all for? Then he realized something. _'Hermione...I should think about protecting Hermione.'_

Needless to say, Harry achieved a stable shield after that.

The rest of the day was spent in practice. McGonagall had left the two alone again, and they decided to practice on their own. Hermione stayed in the secluded section of their training room, casting a silencing spell to keep out Harry's antics. This turned out exactly as Harry wanted, as it allowed him to begin his secret lessons with Aurora.

Learning Ilene of Light's color conjuration spell was a difficult task. The light itself seemed to last only for a variable of minutes, that depended of how much magic it had to draw from. The light could last for days if it was cast in a magical area, or in the case of the earlier works, years. However, if placed in a control, like non-magical glass, it made for a lovely night-light that wouldn't burn down the house.

Harry didn't know exactly why he wanted to learn the Borealis spell, but he felt as if the instruction was needed. It was not soon after his first lesson with Aurora that he was proven right; apparently, Hermione's birthday was on the nineteenth.

He had roughly a week and a half to work on the project he had only just begun designing. But that was beside the point. He needed to talk to Mitzi, the House Elf assigned to Hermione. "How am I supposed to contact Mitzi without asking Hermione?" he asked himself as he took his break.

A sudden pop interrupted his thoughts. "Yous call Mitzi?" the elf's squeaky voice asked politely.

"Uh...yeah, how'd you know?"

"All elves be knowing when they is needed, sir," the elf answered. "Are you Miss Mione's Harry?"

He laughed, "That's me, Harry Potter."

Mitzi's eyes widened, "Mitzi didn't know! Miss Mione's Harry is Harry Potter!"

Harry stopped laughing and cursed, "Please tell me you aren't going to be like Dobby."

A second pop caught his attention. "Harry Potter sir called Dobby!" the second House Elf cried happily.

'_No, I didn't,'_ he thought uneasily. "Well, since you're here, I'd like to ask you if you'd like to help me set up a party for Hermione's birthday."

Mitzi was bouncing with unhidden delight. "Yous must tell Mitzi what needs being done," she commanded.

The party planning continued on the rest of their training time, setting back Harry in his learning of Ilene's spell. He had to work extra hard the next day, after he finished owl ordering a few supplies for his in-progress project. Most everything was kept hush-hush, although all of Gryffindor – sans Hermione – knew about the soon to be birthday bash.

It wasn't until Monday that Harry's plans hit a snag.

Neville was having trouble in Potions, but this time Hermione was too frazzled to help him out. "Harry, please, help me!" he begged.

Harry motioned for Ron to switch with Neville, "Sure, what do you need help with?"

It surprised both Harry and Hermione how much he had actually grown. Thanks to Hermione's insistence on self-study, Harry had improved exponentially in potions. He now knew, almost by instinct, how ingredients would react to others and how to fix the occasional screw up.

Neville on the other hand, still had the very dangerous fear of his potions professor that seemed to get in the way of his work. Harry tried to think, _'What would help Neville out?'_

"You like Herbology, right?" Harry asked quickly. At Neville's nod he continued, "Well, think of this recipe like it was just a new procedure on how to handle a plant. It requires concentration, focus. You can't let _any_ emotion get in the way."

Neville closed his eyes and thought. Sadly for him, it would seem as if his fear of Snape would ruin his potions career. "You're right, Harry," Neville began. "I really need to focus better."

There was a strong gleam of determination in his eyes, and he tore through the potion with a more level head. He didn't improve as much as Harry had hoped, but Neville had yet to blow up the classroom.

At the end of class, Ron asked, "How'd it go?"

Neville grinned, "I made a 'passable potion' according to Snape. He was almost as surprised as I was!"

Ron laughed, and gave congratulations then spoke a bit more seriously, "Harry you owe me a game of chess."

He received a groan in response. "Why don't you just take on the Chess Club?" he asked.

Ron gave him a superior grin, "They're not that challenging, and besides, they don't talk much."

Harry rolled his eyes, it was true enough. Ron had been sent a missive by an older Ravenclaw asking if he'd like to participate in a chess tournament, and he subsequently trounced every other player. Harry was out by his second game, but he had stayed and watched as Ron sat annoyed by the silence. "Fine," he grumbled coming out of his reverie.

They did indeed talk while Harry was flattened by Ron, whose first question was, "Did you learn anything cool?"

"Sort of," Harry replied, "but I'm not really allowed to use it unless I'm in danger."

"Well that's bullocks."

"McGonagall doesn't want us to abuse the spells, it's for self-defense only," Harry defended weakly.

Ron nodded, "I know, but wouldn't it be grand to see Malfoy falling flat on his face?"

Harry grinned, "He definitely deserves it."

He went to bed that night with a light heart, glad to know his new lessons wouldn't get in the way of his friendship with Ron.

The rest of the week passed quickly as Harry and Hermione focused on their separate studies. Hermione's progress with meditation improved slowly, but as her parents had yet to send a reply to her letter, she had a hard time constructing scenes. Harry on the other hand was busy constructing a small gift for Hermione.

Over the week, Harry constructed a simple wooden box finely sanded and stained, then he began to carve. The design was simple, a series of runes the he had found from Hermione's textbook. They were drawn in a circle. Each rune was carved clean out, allowing only the smallest bit of light in. Hermione's name appeared across what would become the top of the lid. A silhouette of Crookshanks and Hedwig, or what would be called Crookshanks and Hedwig, were etched into the bottom corners. Lastly, below the rune circle, was a smooth circular stone that represented the blank rune used in Divination.

The box was simple, almost elegant, but at the moment, it was not yet finished. He set a thin sheet of magical glass and turned to Aurora for direction.

"Are you ready Harry?" Aurora whispered.

Harry nodded and replied, "It'll turn off by itself though, right? I don't want to get Hermione's dorm mates annoyed at her because it won't dim at night."

Aurora shook her head, "That's what the glass is for. It will dim the charm after losing contact with raw magic, but it won't completely dissipate.

"Okay, remember to think of the colors as you cast them." Harry nodded, remembering soft colors of pale greens and blues. "For wand tap rotations in magical glass you need to spell each 'aurora' individually.

"The incantation is _Lux Borealis._ The colors will follow the tip of your wand, so make sure you send it into the glass," she paused. "Once you've finished putting the light in, tap the glass twice and repeat until you are done. When you are, simply say 'complete.'"

"Thanks Aurora," Harry said as he began following her instructions.

The first 'aurora' he put in was a mix of blues and white, it shimmered like ocean waves. The next was an almost rainbow; the most prominent colors were pale yellow and green, but around the edges were thin strips of red and purple. Then he added a stream of 'fire,' a 'cloudy sky,' and a mix of blue and violet. He finished his gift and closed the lid.

He smiled as the silhouettes appeared on the ceiling. Suddenly, Hermione began to stir.

Hastily, he threw a thick scrap of cloth over his project. _'Wait, wasn't that supposed to be on the inside?'_ Harry asked himself. _'Oh, and there's the mirror that goes inside it too...'_

"How'd it go Hermione?" he asked shakily.

"Hm?" Hermione looked up, eyes unfocused. "Oh, it was okay, but I hope my parents send me some books soon...I wonder why they're taking so long to reply."

It seemed that Hermione forgot her birthday; after all, she had only mentioned it once in passing...or perhaps not, either way, Harry played along. "They're probably deciding on what to send back with Hedwig. She can't carry everything and they can't shrink it."

She shook her head with a sigh. "It's not just that, I'm worried about what they will say about Mitzi. I really like her, but if my parents don't, I know I won't be able to 'adopt' her."

"So you want to then?" he asked suddenly.

Hermione frowned, "I think so, but...I'm not sure."

Harry nodded understandingly. He was in a similar situation with Dobby. Ever since he made the slip up of calling the elf, Dobby had been popping up whenever he needed something. Sure he was a bit eccentric, but the little elf was growing on him.

"I think we should do it," he said suddenly.

"We?" Hermione asked, unsure of where he was coming from.

"Oh, yeah. Did I ever tell you about Dobby?" Harry began to tell her all about how Dobby appeared in his life. It left Hermione in tears, but didn't help her with her decision until Harry asked, "What if you don't 'adopt' Mitzi and she has to bond with someone like Malfoy?"

_That_ got Hermione thinking.

"Perhaps you're right, but I still need the okay from my Mum and Dad," she decided finally.

* * *

Sorry the chapter is a bit lazy and rushed. It's just an interlude, so be prepared for more later. Please review and point out _any_ errors. I was working on getting this out, so this probably has a ton. If not then I work better than I thought.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys make my day.

I love you all,

~Kit.


	7. Lesson 7: Special Moments

Disclaimer: See the first six chapters...yeah.

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Lesson 7 ~ Special Moments

She walked down the halls with a strange bounce in her step, blissfully unaware of the world around her. She simply missed the excited whispers and happy smiles of her fellow Gryffindors. Had she noticed, Hermione would have immediately jumped to thoughts of the coming party she had no knowledge of. It was a good lapse of the observant nature, and even better that she would have never known the coming party would be in her honor.

However, none of that truly mattered, because tomorrow was September nineteenth, and her two best friends had planned to spend the entire weekend with her. To Hermione's uncertain joy, Harry had even canceled their lessons with Professor McGonagall for both days.

So Hermione bounced about more exuberantly than usual.

The day started out like any other, only a bit later as it was Saturday. She woke up a bit early and quickly reviewed the last few paragraphs of the chapter she had been reading last night. Then she went to brush her teeth and shower. After changing into her casual wear, she headed down the staircase to find Harry and Ron waiting for her.

That was when she was dragged into a day of complete relaxation.

After the boys had helped her raid the library for useful spells, which included a wide array of household charms, healing manuals, and even the occasional book on hexes and jinxes, they spent the day outside with Hagrid. Hermione had been swept up by the half-giant and congratulated early.

"Happy Birthday, Hermione," he greeted happily.

Hermione blushed, "Thank you, but it's not my birthday yet."

Hagrid just grinned and gave her a friendly pat on the back. "Jus' wanted ta tell yeh afore tomorrow. I won' be getting' out much, cause I got ter be at a meetin' with the gov'ners."

"About Buckbeak?" Harry asked.

"Aye, figure ol' Malfoy'll wan' my 'ead. But I ain't gonna give it ta 'im," he said proudly. The trio smiled and directed the conversation away from birthdays and Malfoys.

Their next event was a walk ending at the lake, where Ron decided he wanted to skip a few rocks. "My dad taught me how to skip rocks when I was little," Hermione said with a smile. "But I didn't know you did that in the Wizarding world."

Ron laughed, "I think it is a Muggle thing, my dad's the one who taught us."

Harry looked up with a bittersweet smile. "You guys will teach me right?" he asked a bit hesitantly.

Hermione shared a knowing glance with Ron, who simply grinned at his best friend. "Of course," he spoke confidently. "Can't have you feeling left out."

He gave them a watery smile and Hermione clapped, "Let's get started."

It wouldn't be until an hour later that the trio headed off to lunch. Mitzi and Dobby had prepared a nicely sized picnic basket and a nice spot of grass for Hermione's next event, and the fun continued on for a good while after the last of the ham sandwiches disappeared into Ron's bottomless pit. Everything about today had been perfect. There was no talk of homework or Quidditch, and very little about school at all. They had learned so much more about each other in one day than they had the last few years.

And then something unexpected happened.

A small purple colored flower found its way underneath Hermione's nose. Startled she pulled back. "Luna!" a voice she recognized as Neville shouted. "Sorry Hermione, I just told her about your birthday being tomorrow and..."

Hermione smiled and looked at the second year's offering. "An iris?"

The blond simply smiled and said, "For inspiration, perhaps you will find it useful."

Hermione accepted the flower with a smile, gazing curiously at the iris. "It's very beautiful, Luna. Thank you."

Harry smiled at the exchange and decided to ask, "Want to join us?"

Nodding, Luna sat down between Hermione and Ron, which caused him to scowl slightly. Harry scooted a bit towards Hermione and motioned for Neville to sit down, filling in the last spot of the small circle.

They talked mindlessly about various subjects, enjoying the sun. Eventually they grew warm and tired, and after a second small picnic, they retired to their dorms for a few games of chess and a bit of study.

When Sunday morning came by, Hermione found herself next to a small mound of presents. On top of the pile was a simple note, which clearly read, _We didn't know which ones you wanted, but that nice elf Mitzi popped over and helped us get them all. Happy birthday sweetheart, and don't read the new ones too quickly. Love Mum and Dad._

Hermione opened the brightly wrapped boxes and found almost her entire collection at her disposal. She then proceeded to fulfill her morning ritual, smiling happily as she anticipated the joys of the day.

"Morning Hermione," Harry and Ron chorused with nearly identical smiles. "Happy Birthday!"

Hermione smiled, _'I wonder why they are going through all of this for me. How long did they even spend rehearsing just the hello?'_ She thanked them happily and allowed then to lead her to the great hall. _'They really did a lot for me.'_

Neville waved to the trio as they neared Gryffindor table, and Harry led them towards the wayward Gryffindor. "What are you doing all by yourself today Neville?" he asked with a wink.

Neville tried not to laugh, stuttering out, "N-nothing much, I was just going to eat with Luna." He moved aside and continued, "Happy Birthday by the way, Hermione."

"Thank you Neville," she replied, slightly confused at their exchange.

They sat down and waited for Luna, talking aimlessly. "Hello," Luna's dream-colored voice drifted over their chatter. "Have the Blibbering Humdingers visited you yet, Hermione? I've heard they like to give good fortune to people on their birthday, although they are particularly attracted to flames –"

"Why did we have to sit with Loony anyway?" Ron complained to Harry in what he thought was a quiet tone.

Luna tried to hide a sniff, "I suppose the Wrackspurts have infested Ronald, Harry. Don't mind him too much."

Harry frowned. He had never seen this side of Ron before..._'No, don't lie. This is how he treated Hermione before the troll...'_ He gritted his teeth and turned to his friend, "Don't insult Luna! She's a good person, and you're being rude."

Hermione, who had been on the verge of answering Luna, tried to hide her envy. Instead, she too chided Ron, "I can't believe you, honestly! Luna has a right to believe in what she may. We may not exactly understand, but even I know that the magical world is filled with things not many may understand."

It had been Neville that surprised them all. The normally soft hearted boy had turned an icy glare at the red-head and subsequently refused to speak to him the rest of the day. No one noticed that Luna had started to cry until she gave a smell tug on Hermione's sleeve. "Can we go to the library?" she spoke shakily.

Hermione's voice softened and swept the Ravenclaw away from the Gryffindor table and out the hall. However, instead of heading towards the library, they ended up in an unused classroom.

"Did you mean it?" Luna asked once she had settled down.

"Mean what?"

Luna's watery eyes blinked at her furiously, "You believe me?"

Hermione looked down, "Honestly? I don't know. But I definitely don't think you're loony, I know _that's_ rubbish."

Luna pulled Hermione into an unexpected hug, mumbling, "It's so nice to have friends."

Anger and guilt stirred in Hermione. Her mind was spinning with too many thoughts, _'If Harry hadn't saved me, would I be like Luna? Why did I get jealous? Why did she talk as if she had no friends?'_

"What do you mean? Surely you have friends in Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked softly.

Luna shook her head. "They don't like me much. The nargles tend to hide my things, you see, and they don't like that I cause them to lose things either."

Hermione frowned, "Luna, as much as I'd like to believe you, I don't think it is the nargles who are hiding your things. The house elves work hard to make sure student belongings aren't tampered with." Judging from Luna's wince, Hermione could see she hit the nail on the head. The tears were slowly creeping down her face again. Anger flashed in Hermione's eyes, "Come with me."

She dragged the second year up several flights of stairs into the infamous 'secret office' of Gred and Feorge Weasley.

Neither the twins nor Luna had been frightened as much as they had been the moment Hermione crashed through the 'office' doors. "Fred, George, I don't care which one's which at the moment, get out here!"

They didn't disappoint. "What may we ask—"

"—is our favorite birthday girl—"

"—doing at our front door?"

"I need your help." Eyes ablaze, she turned to Luna, "Tell them about what your housemates do to you."

It was not much later that Harry and Neville found the girls in the twin's 'office.' They, of course, had come to the twins for help in finding Hermione and Luna, as they did not find them in the library, but stayed when they heard the frightful tale of what had been Luna's first year.

"Don't hurt the first years," Luna had asked meekly as Fred and George began listing the potions and spells they thought would be 'useful.' However, everyone was in definite agreement, Ravenclaw house [sans firsties] had to pay.

It was not until lunch that they had reached an agreement, and the five Gryffindors happily escorted the small Ravenclaw into the hall. The first to greet them was Ron, who began to apologize profusely to Harry and Hermione, before giving Luna a less than pleasant, "Sorry."

Hermione gave him a hard glare, "You should be." To her, it had been exactly as it was between them those very first weeks of first year; he was still rude, still unpleasant – especially during meals — and the only reason she even thought of keeping him around was because of Harry.

She turned to Luna, waiting for her decision. The blond simply smiled lightly, saying nothing. The entire group settled down for lunch at Gryffindor table, tense and quiet.

Harry sat next to Ron, knowing no one else really wanted to, and immediately regretted his decision. Ron wouldn't stop talking, not even when his mouth was full. The things he had to say weren't important enough to Harry that he'd want bits of meat splattered over his robes.

Lunch was not a happy meal. Harry could see that written all over Hermione's face. He stabbed his mashed potatoes angrily, _'Why isn't this going better? Why'd Ron have to ruin it?' _He sighed angrily, sometimes he wished it was just him and Hermione, he looked to Neville and Luna. _'Sorry to drag you into this...'_

The rest of the day was more subdued, but even after Luna and Neville disappeared into the greenhouses tension was still high. Hermione had lost her bounce, in fact she almost completely forgot about her birthday. "I'm off to the library. I'm going to get some homework done."

Without another word, she was gone, leaving Harry alone with Ron. He frowned.

"What's your problem mate?" Ron asked, confused by the look Harry had given him.

Harry spoke tersely, "You almost ruined Hermione's birthday."

"Oh, is that why she's mad at me?" Ron asked in an unconcerned manner.

Harry looked at Ron as if he had grown another head. "What's gotten into you? How can you just..." he stopped himself short. _'Maybe he doesn't mean it...'_

"What?"

"Never mind, we should go and help the others set up in the common room," Harry said subdued.

He tried not to dwell on Ron's strange behavior, but the events of the day kept playing in his head.

"_I suppose the Wrackspurts have infested Ronald, Harry. Don't mind him too much." Luna had said during breakfast._

'_What did she mean by that anyway? Is it like when she tried to blame the nargles?' _He shook his head and continued along the hall.

Unknowingly he ran into Malfoy, who looked at him with malicious glee.

Groaning he asked, "What do you want?"

Malfoy gave both him and Ron a nasty sneer. "Any idea where your mudblood is Potty? I owe her a nice little _present_."

Ron snarled, "Leave her alone Malfoy, or else."

"Like there's anything you could do Weasel," he snapped. "Well then, perhaps I should try the library..."

He never got to finish his threat as Harry began running down the hall, Ron at his heels. They entered the library, alert and anxious. Everything was quiet. Quickly, he move towards their usual table, blood pounding in his ears. In his mind, he prayed that Hermione was all right. He turned right and heaved a heavy sigh.

"What is it?" Hermione asked with a tilt of her head.

He shook his head and sat down with a small smile. "Any chance I can get you away from your work?"

"Not one bit. You and Ron have distracted me enough for one weekend. I have two essays that were assigned on Friday and one I have yet to finish from Thursday. They are due sometime next week, and I'd like to get them done," Hermione said crisply.

Ron, who had dropped into the seat next to Harry, groaned at the idea of homework. "On a weekend really? C'mon Hermione, we shouldn't even be within ten feet of a book right now. I'd rather we head to the common room to play some Exploding Snap or Chess."

Harry glared at the red-head and gave him a forceful kick.

"I won't be going just yet. Either grab a book and read, start your homework, or leave."

To Ron's complete frustration, Harry simply complied. He had taken it upon himself to protest this course of study by getting up and walking about. It didn't surprise Hermione much as Ron left the table, but Harry's choice of literature brought a smile to her face.

'_A book on Runes,'_ she thought fondly. _'I'm glad he's starting to take things seriously.'_

Hours passed between the trio in relative silence. Ron found a small book on Chess strategy and took his seat next to Harry – who was doing his best to hide his interest in Runes and failing. Hermione, of course, observed most of this while she worked her homework. A smile seemed to stick to her like a niffler to something shiny, and truth be told, she might have actually forgiven Ron for all his misbehaviors that morning.

But unfortunately for Ron, it seemed that forgiveness was something the cosmos thought he did not deserve, because Harry grew frustrated at all the none-too-subtle hints Ron had been giving Hermione of her _surprise_ party.

'_He just has a hard time keeping his mouth shut,'_ part of him reasoned.

Another spoke up irritably, _'Doesn't matter, because if he keeps it up, he'll give it away.'_

'_And he'll get all the credit for planning it,' _a third voice said snidely.

'_You're wrong!' _

'_It's not about that!' _The first and second parts yelled back.

In reality, he knew Ron wasn't actually trying to take the credit, as Ron was rather thick. Never the less, it was a daunting task to keep the party a complete secret with Ron suggesting they get to the common room every few minutes.

However, they did eventually go to the common room, and they happened to do so right before dinner.

Harry sighed as he opened the portrait and spoke loudly, "Hurry up Hermione," signaling the common room to go dark.

Hermione huffed as she and Ron came through the portrait hole. "My bag decided to – Why is it so dark?"

The lights flared and a loud chorus of "surprise" and "Happy Birthday" clashed in a grand clamor.

"Wha-what?"

Harry smiled and Ron grinned, "Happy Birthday Hermione."

Hermione, teary-eyed and smiling, pulled the boys into a large hug. "Thank you; you don't know how much this means to me." She let them go and was immediately bombarded by well wishers and other Gryffindors she had never actually met before. They were, after all, quite happy with her party.

If there was one thing that Gryffindor liked more than a good Quidditch game, it was a smashing party, and when it came right down to it, the more food and drink they had, the better. Hermione's surprise birthday party actually topped most of the Gryffindor Quidditch celebrations. Mitzi had not only moved _all_ of their table's food up to the common room, but also provided a few dozen caldrons worth of butterbeer.

All went rather well considering Hermione didn't really like parties. It went so well that most didn't even notice a ginger colored cat chase after a streak of gray, or that the streak of gray was headed right for the birthday girl and her year-mates.

"Crookshanks, no!" Hermione commanded sternly and she swept up her cat.

Ron too picked up his pet and gave a frightful hiss at both the creature and its owner, "Keep that monster away from Scabbers. He's under enough stress as it is!"

"Crookshanks _isn't_ a monster, he's a cat! Cats chase rats!"

Harry recognized that this particular spectacle would not drive a wedge between Ron and Hermione, but rather the one that already existed in more deeply than he had previously thought possible. He wisely choose to stay out of this spat, instead contented himself with removing Scabbers from Crookshanks' line of sight.

He calmly walked up to Fred, or was it George? "Here, give this to Ron when he calms down, will you?" he asked with a look that said, _'don't even think about it.'_

Fred gave him a salute and wandered off, probably to his twin in hopes of doing a few experiments. Harry shrugged, knowing that whatever they did would probably be reversed by the time they decided Ron was once again worthy of his pet.

When he returned to the scene of the spat, he saw Hermione close to tears. That did not sit well with Harry.

"It's not my fault that your mangy cat is more of a menace than you are!" Ron snapped at her.

Her eyes flashed in hurt and anger, "Fine! Don't speak to me ever again!" She ran out of the common room; Harry ran off after her.

He found her sniffling away inside their little study room. Smiling sadly, he sat down next to her. "I don't think you're a menace, you know. Sure, you're a bit bossy, but your heart's always in the right place."

"Go away," she mumbled half-heartedly.

Harry shook his head, "If I go away, how am I going to give you your present?" He held out a lightly wrapped parcel, almost shoving it into her lap.

"I don't deserve it."

He lowered his head, "Well, I think you do. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have worked on it too much."

Hermione looked up and pulled the package into her lap. Shakily, she unwrapped the wooden jewelry box that Harry had constructed for her. Shock shook her as the simple beauty of the box literally glowed in front of her. "Oh, Harry, this must have taken ages," she breathed softly.

"Not really," he mumbled, "Only 'bout a week or so."

Hermione laughed a little and pulled him into the biggest, most bone-crushing hug she could manage. "Thank you...for everything."

Harry simply smiled. _'Anything for you 'Mione.'_

* * *

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that I didn't update for a while. I'm not too sure how much you really care, but I've been adjusting to college life. Anyway, if you actually want me to write faster, please give me meaningful reviews. I love getting the small reviews too, but I would like more feedback.

What do you like so far? How can I make the story more alive? What would you like to see? Feel free to ask questions and give me other kinds of feedback. Thanks again to everyone for your reviews.

Also, before you complain about Luna's ooc-ness, remember she's only a second year and has only had one year of abuse. Luna is not completely hardened quite yet. Also, she [sort of] thought of Ron as a friend, making it much more painful.

Much love,

Kit.


	8. Lesson 8: Little Luna Gryffindor

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Instead, I have this fanfiction.

Enjoy, ~Kit.

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Lesson 8 ~ Little Luna Gryffindor

If there was one thing in the world Luna wanted more than anything else, it would have been a friend. But she had one now, three actually, or at least she thought she did. Her memory of that day was a bit fuzzy thanks the nargles that played in her mistletoe. Sighing contently, she curled up beneath her warm covers and ran her fingers along the cotton cloth of her pajamas.

'_It's nice to have pajamas again,'_ she thought happily. Luna noticed that the lacey blue shorts were a perfect match for the too-short, former nightgown. _'I'll have to give the house elves something nice.'_

She looked at her pajamas again with a smile, before forgetting about them completely. Luna never thought too much of one thing, for she feared more than most that if she thought too hard or too long about anything, she would begin broadcasting her thoughts. For anyone other than Luna, this might have been a possibility.

Deciding to brave it, Luna allowed her thoughts to wander. They were good thoughts, she thought, as most had stayed behind her bed curtain fluttering about, chattering aimlessly. One of the more adventurous thoughts, however, decided to go beyond the boundary of fabric...

She had to stifle a giggle as it started to poke fun at her dorm mates. Yes, if nothing else, Luna loved her thoughts and their wonderful imaginations. She spent a small bit of the night playing with her thoughts, but as the night dragged on, one of her thoughts began to call on all the others, and slowly, slowly they lulled her to sleep.

The next morning, Luna awoke to the giggling of her dorm mates, who were descending the stairs. She ignored her foreboding feeling and went about her morning ritual, but once she finished packing up her things, she realized she was missing her shoes.

The week following Hermione's birthday had been the best week Luna had ever had. When she lost her favorite nightgown, the silver blue one that, once found, has lost most of its hem, she ran to Hermione. Luna was hugged, she was given kind words, and most importantly – to Hermione anyway – she met Mitzi.

And from then on, Mitzi would pop in anytime Luna called, like she had done just now.

"What did the nasty bad gigglies take from Miss Luna?" she asked curtly.

Luna's head bowed. "My shoes," she spoke ashamed.

"Miss Luna must not be feeling bad. Mitzi will get Miss Luna's shoes and Miss Luna must be smiling."

Funnily enough, the elf's speech made her smile. Nodding, Mitzi popped away and thirty seconds later, returned with Luna's shoes nice and sparkling.

"Nasty bad gigglies be putting Miss Luna's shoes with the owls. Mitzi be thinking the gigglies shoes be needing to visit the owls." Luna hugged the elf and mumbled a thank you before she popped away. Then the girl pulled on her newly shined shoes and skipped to the Great Hall.

Of course, due to recent friendships, little Luna elected to sit with the Gryffindors, and since there were no rules that even implied she would need to eat at her own table, no one had bothered to correct her.

In fact in under a week it was so common to see the little 'claw with the lions that most simply assumed she had been resorted. Twice she had earned points for Gryffindor, and no one bothered to correct the strict Professor McGonagall. But no matter what the dream, a resorting was not possible, not unless the house threatened the life of the student in question.

That meant Hermione had to enlist the help of Fred and George to protect her little sister.

Luna, however, had no idea that Hermione had thought so much of her, nor exactly when the twins planned to set off their special show. So without a bat off an eyelash, Luna went about school as if nothing changed. The gigglies, as Mitzi had lovingly called her dorm mates, seemed to grow increasingly irritated with her as she earned yet another ten points for Gryffindor, this time from Flitwick!

And it only made matters between Luna and the Ravenclaws much worse when Luna was seen with Hermione in the library chattering away happily about her creatures. Cho Chang scoffed at Hermione's indulgence, and when she caught Luna's eye, she gave the little 'Gryffindor' a hard glare.

Once Cho left, Luna relaxed. Immediately she asked Hermione, "Do you really believe me?"

Usually Hermione simply answered, "If you believe in something, I'll keep an open mind." However, since Luna was bringing this up every time they were alone, Hermione replied more surely, "Luna, for all intents and purposes, you are my little sister. I support you and I believe in you, I don't understand everything, but as long as you believe nargles and wrackspurts and whatever else is out there yet to be named, I'll believe in them too."

Luna's eyes filled with a happy kind of tears, and one of her stronger thoughts told her Hermione deserved a good hug. After a few more minutes of study, they headed off to the common room, a place that always seemed to welcome little Luna with cheers after she inadvertently earned them points.

'_Gryffindors are much better than those sorry ingrates back in Ravenclaw,' _one of the more vocal thoughts told Luna, who continued to skip behind Hermione with a smile.

The Gryffindors had seen her come and go quite often, and when the password changed, they freely gave it to their honorary Gryff, that allowed Luna to complete the Lion hat that sat atop the main fireplace.

At the start of her project, the gigglies took it upon themselves to smash the hat into bits before bed, forcing Luna to start over the next day. It continued for three days before Luna had asked to use the Gryffindor common room, and much to her joy, they let her in with those same cheers.

Luna was nothing but happy, and that happiness continued for the next two weeks right up until the moment she entered the Great Hall on the fifteenth of October. Every student was pranked in some way, although the first years seemed to be the only ones not entirely affected by the twins' full-scale prank, as only their hair seemed to change.

As dictated by prankster tradition, each house had a theme. Slytherin sported giant stuffed snakes and their hair was colored in sparking silver and green. The snakes were wrapped neatly around their core, restricting most inward movement.

Hufflepuff had their robes colored as a yellow and black forest, complete with the occasional birdsong and more importantly a badger that ran from cloak to cloak. Hufflepuff hair was comprised of a yellow badger positioned on finely painted black hair.

Gryffindor was draped in what looked to be lion skins and their hair was splashed in red and gold. They looked to be the most tame, but the tails that spouted spontaneously made them look almost like lions.

The 'claws on the other hand were a completely different matter. As Luna sat down next to her big sister with the Gryffindors, she noticed the looks of scorn her former house threw at her. The ones who she had named as constant aggressors and belittlers were the worse off. Respectable Ravenclaws, like Padma Patil, Su Li and Penelope Clearwater, seemed to merely have their robes illusioned to look as if they were slashed. The less kind, which included most of the house, not only had the customary color swatch in their hair, but were also missing socks or shoes, jewelry and hair ties, even badges if they were prefects.

The best part, Luna learned later on, was that it would be an entire week before those gigglies found their precious items, maybe even longer. Luna learned two valuable lessons that day, don't mess with Mitzi and never anger a prankster.

But days drag on, and this day was no different. She had forgotten that most of her dorm mates would only take this as a challenge, and now she remembered why she started blaming the nargles in the first place.

"Come back here Loony!" Chang called angrily as she stumbled along the hall. Luna remembered her special prank with an insane amount of reverence. Cho loved her special dragon hide heels, and the twins made it so no matter what she did, she would only be able to wear one. It didn't stop her from ordering the other 'claws to attack her, but it made it insanely funny.

Luna ran along the halls laughing slightly. She had taken a few secret passageways that Gred and Feorge had taught her in the event that she was being chased, much like she was right now, but even so, there was always someone closing in on her.

She passed by the Gryffindor common room twice, but a nasty looking Ravenclaw had stood there with his wand ready to fire if she neared it. Luna kept running, ducking, jumping, and even sliding down a banister or two, until finally she spotted Neville and Professors McGonagall and Flitwick entering a classroom and followed them in.

"Oh thank goodness," Luna breathed as she ran up to them. "The Ravenclaws want to hurt me. They think today's prank was my fault!"

"My dear, how could they possibly think it was your fault?" McGonagall asked kindly.

Luna tugged on Neville's sleeve. He spoke up strongly, "Would you escort Luna to Gryffindor as a cat Professor McGonagall? I think you could see for yourself."

The professor in question narrowed her eyes at the normally timid student and smiled. "Lead the way, Miss Lovegood," the shrewd professor said before she shrunk into the shape of a cat. She followed Luna as she calmly exited the room and headed towards the common room.

Half way up the staircase, she started receiving taunts yelled from afar. Three quarters up, trip jinxes began flying at her, all of which she dodged. At the top, she was met with an angry seventh year boy who roughly grabbed her by the arm. "You told someone Loony, you better accept your payment for a job well done," his tone was dark and his voice husky, it was clear to everyone what exactly he was going to do.

Many parted as he dragged Luna down the corridor, but a few of the girls had to be pushed. He only halted when he felt an intense sort of anger burst at him from two sources. McGonagall, already transformed, transfigured the Ravenclaw into a pig and pulled Luna away, leaving the fate of the house to Flitwick, who she knew to be watching nearby.

Luna found the angry lioness to be quite pleasant. Sure, she did drag Luna along, but according to one of her more intelligent thoughts, if McGonagall was a lioness, Luna was a cub, and a lioness could certainly drag around her cub.

They found their way to a rather unpleasant looking gargoyle, who seemed to jump away at the Professor's presence, because surely it was not sacred of the sugar quills the lioness had offered.

"Albus Dumbledore! I know you're in there, this is urgent," McGonagall spoke curtly. She hardly waited for a response before bursting through the door.

The Weasley twins were inside, presenting a rather strange object to the Headmaster. "Ah, Minerva, excellent timing. Come look at this for me."

"No time for that. This is urgent!"

"Now, now," Dumbledore said comfortingly, "Just have a look for me."

McGonagall grudgingly followed his command, "It's Mr. Weasley's rat. But I have more pressing news. Miss Lovegood needs to be re-sorted."

"Yes, yes all in good time. But really, my dear, does this not look peculiar to you?"

With a heavy sigh, she bent down over the stunned rat and examined it. "How strange...but if you want my opinion you must listen to me Albus."

The Headmaster nodded and dismissed the Weasleys. "Can they stay?" Luna asked quietly. Her vindictive thoughts had urged her to keep them around.

"Yes, very well," McGonagall decided. She then began telling the Headmasters past and present about the single event she had just witnessed. Keen details caught by her shrewd eyes and keen ears spilled over the office. "So, you see Albus, you need to re-sort Miss Lovegood. I'm sure almost the entirety of Ravenclaw would attack her if she stays."

"It's really only half professor," Luna mumbled meekly, half glad McGonagall only glossed over the pig. "But I would really like to be re-sorted."

Dumbledore nodded and picked up the sleeping hat. "Another year already?" it asked irritably. "I haven't even had enough –"

"No, a re-sorting," McGonagall informed it simply.

If the sorting hat had eyes, proper ones mind you, it would have blinked. "Is it this young one?" it asked, referring to Luna. "Because I'm quite certain those miscreants are unable to fit in anywhere but Gryffindor."

Neither said miscreant dared to argue.

Luna gave the hat a happy nod and allowed the other witch to place it on her head. Its cool fabric felt like a soft breeze, and its voice rang out clearly, "Hmm, oh dear, I apologize for incorrectly sorting you. Yes, Gryffindor would be best; keeping quiet all that time is very Gryffindor-ish of you."

Luna for one was glad the hat didn't shout, as it was rather unnecessary for her ears to ring. The twins gave a hearty cheer, but were silenced when Dumbledore asked, "My dear, what drove the Ravenclaws to do this to you?"

The new Gryffindor struggled with the right words, until she decided to simply tell them about the secret house tradition. As she was no longer a 'claw, she found herself unhindered by the Ravenclaw "Code of Conduct." She began with the simplest of explanations.

You see, it was a long standing tradition that started with the granddaughter of a good friend of Helena Ravenclaw, who fancied herself deserving of being called the Queen of the Ravens. In her third year, she achieved dominance over most of the Ravenclaws, but had to wait until the next year to truly take her 'throne.' She blackmailed, bullied and belittled any opposition, until the end of her sixth year, when she noticed she needed an heir.

She picked the prettiest and pettiest second year in Ravenclaw and at the end of the year announced that the girl was to be her Princess. The Queen then spent her seventh year teaching the Princess all she knew, making sure that her power would continue for generations. Soon blackmailing was simply replaced by tradition, but those who opposed the crown were hazed in house.

Cho Chang had only been the Princess when Luna called the system silly, but once the Queen had heard...

But now Chang was Queen, and like the last Queen, she had called a meeting while the prefects were away and issued orders. The prefects that found out never really said anything, but joined in on the bullying of Luna. Those, like Padma, who occasionally helped Luna by lending spare robes or sock, were few and had not reported the hazing due to the Conduct of Ravenclaw.

"It's very unfortunate, but I hope they aren't all punished," Luna finished softly. She watched as the Headmaster sighed gravely, he had never known about this tradition, and so it seemed that the portraits of former Ravenclaws were similarly bound by the Conduct.

"Miss Lovegood, I do apologize for this oversight, and I hope I will have the power to ensure it won't happen again," he spoke sagely. "Now, I was hoping to continue with the rat before you go, as I'm sure it would be best for our newest Gryffindor to have an escort."

"Ah, yes, the rat," McGonagall spoke with certainty. "I really have no idea why you ask Albus, surely you know it is an animagus."

Dumbledore sighed heavily, "Truthfully I was hoping that it was not the case. For you see, it means that the animal rooming with the fourth year boys is a grown wizard. And that could mean many bad things for the occupants of Gryffindor."

McGonagall paled, "You don't think..." she trailed off. "Will we have to have them checked?"

"No," he said firmly. "We will ask the wizard directly. Why don't you escort Miss Lovegood to Gryffindor, Minerva? Weasley and Weasley, would you mind terribly running down to the dungeons and fetching Professor Snape?"

The twins ran off, and Luna was escorted to Gryffindor tower, where she would be welcomed.

However, their plans had hit a snag. "I remember the second year dorms being quite full this year," McGonagall told her kindly. "Do you mind rooming with the third years?" Luna happily shook her head and things were all right again. "Right," McGonagall said curtly as she reached the portrait. "You best tell the others that their party is to be shut down no later than ten 'o clock. Is that understood?"

"Yes Professor," Luna smiled. "Thank you for everything."

McGonagall gave her a rare smile, "You're more than welcome dear."

That night, Gryffindor had the biggest party they could afford. The selection of food wasn't as large as Hermione's party, but the air filled with a palpable mist of excitement. And of course even the most recluse and strict Gryffindor liked a good party...well unless that Gryffindor was Percy Weasley.

"What's all this noise?" he asked angrily. "There wasn't a party scheduled."

"Relax Perce," Fred started.

"We were given permission," George told him.

Percy glared at them, "From who exactly?"

"Why, dear brother, from Professor McGonagall of course."

Luna, who had been watching with distinct interest, informed the entirety of Gryffindor, "But, sadly it must end at ten."

This statement did not curb their excitement as Percy backed down. Instead, they seized Luna and tossed her into the air. She squealed in delight and enjoyed the crowd for a few long minutes before requesting to be dropped off near Hermione.

Luna's smile never left her face as her four very good friends hugged her, but none of them compared to the warmth that came from her new big sister.

"Welcome to Gryffindor Luna," Hermione whispered to her as they hugged. "Welcome home, little sis."

* * *

I know what you're thinking. Trust me, I had no idea that Luna could run so much either...that's not it? Oh of course! You're thinking about the plot holes aren't you? Ha ha! Don't you worry, I have plans...sort of. You'll be filled in next chapter, well for the most part anyway, and I'm sure you'll be wanting some Harry/Hermione action...well too bad, they aren't there just yet.

For those of you dying for Harry and Hermione to wise on up and get to kissing, sorry, it won't be happening anytime soon. I promise lots of fluff, but if they got together right away, where would my story go? The poor confused souls have to work for it, although I guess it's time for good old Minerva to start matchmaking.

As for the Ron thing...there is a rather spectacular explosion in the near future.

Thank you kindly for you reviews, and keep reviewing.

Much love,

~Kit.

Out of curiosity, which house prank was your favorite?


	9. Lesson 9: Telling of Tales

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter.

And here it is! The answers to all [well most of] my plot holes! Aren't you excited? What happened between Harry and Ron? How did Luna meet Neville? What is with Scabbers...and _did_ he hurt anyone while in Gryffindor tower?

Well, read on! ~Kit.

* * *

Lesson 9 ~ Telling of Tales

Hermione sat in front of the fireplace, reminiscing. Everything that had happened during the first few months of Hogwarts had passed by so quickly that her head was swimming. Meditation with Professor McGonagall had stopped completely and their sessions had trickled down to smaller jinxes. In all honesty, she was stunned when the professor suggested returning to the basics, but the shortened sessions had given the time-traveler more time to do her work.

She sighed, if her mind kept wandering, she'd never get her thoughts in order.

A flash of yellow in the fire warmed Hermione's thoughts. Her new little sister Luna was the biggest surprise of all. They had gotten so close in so little time; it was simply astounding how a simple mention of her birthday from Neville and an insult from Ron could bring the two girls together.

'_Wait a minute, how'd Neville know Luna anyway?' _Hermione asked herself. Laughing, she put the thought from her mind and smiled. Luna had done so much for her. Most of Gryffindor had yet to notice, but thanks to the bombardment of strange from Luna and the trying effort to keeping an open mind about house-elf adoption, Hermione had lightened up considerably. She spent less time in her books and more time having fun.

Gaining Luna as a friend, a sister, was most definitely worth losing Ron's friendship entirely. _'I mean, we never even got along. The only thing we've ever agreed on was Harry.'_

She frowned, what was with those silly depressing thoughts invading her reminiscence? Well, all things considered, Hermione truly hoped that Harry patched things up with Ron, even if the red head would probably never speak to her again.

Harry on the other hand had no such reservations. He had stomached just about enough drama and hot headedness that seemed to burst form Ronald Weasley. At first, everything had fallen out as normal Hermione-Ron behavior, but now? This? It was crazy.

And Ron? Ron wanted him to choose. "It's me or her, mate," he stated plainly one night.

When Harry told his friend he shouldn't have to pick just _one_, Ron spat at him, "I don't even know why you still even want hang out with her. All she does is nag!" He had spoken so viciously that Harry winced.

Well, if Ron wanted him to choose, he'd get his wish. Hermione was not only a more stable friend, but a helpful one that he almost always turned to. A life without Hermione, it was unthinkable. Only, he just couldn't seem to tell that to Ron...

And what was with him anyway? One day he was the picture of a perfect friend, he was even praising Hermione on their first day! Then, for some little rat he barely even noticed was _still_ missing, Ron threw it all away.

He plopped himself down beside Hermione and gave her a smile. "Can I borrow your Runes text?" he asked sweetly.

"Third time this week, Harry. Are you finally conceding defeat?" she teased him half-heartedly.

"No," he winked. "I just wanted to see what this one array would do if I activated it."

Hermione glared at him, "If you're going to practice working with arrays and sequences, you should let me teach you the basics! You can't just go off of nothing."

"Okay," Harry shrugged, and sat down. "Teach me, oh smart one."

As she laughed and tossed a pillow at him, the portrait swung open. Instantly their laughing ceased; Ron had walked in steaming. He sent a glare their way, but said nothing as he made his way up the boys' staircase.

Hermione raised her brow. "What was that about?"

Sighing, Harry began describing the last conversation Harry and Ron had.

[Flashback, Three days prior]

It was the evening before the great prank, and Harry sat across from Ron, who was giving a spectacular beating to Harry's chess pieces.

"What's wrong this time?" he asked Ron for the third time that week.

"Nothing's wrong," Ron grunted in return. He moved another piece, smashing up Harry's Queen. "Checkmate."

Harry sighed and set up the board again, forgetting that he could have easily ordered the pieces back to their place. "Are you going to apologize to Hermione anytime soon?" he had wanted to ask. Of course, he knew that line of questioning would get him nowhere. Instead, he settled on, something simpler. "Ron, why are you being so stubborn?" he prodded.

"I'm not, she is. If she had any decency she'd apologize for almost killing Scabbers!"

Harry almost sneered. "It wasn't her fault, Crookshanks is a cat!"

"So?" Ron spat. "There are always cats in the tower, and I'm sure there are many other rats. Why does her cat want to eat mine? Obviously _she_ told that monster to kill Scabbers."

Harry groaned; it was true. Crookshanks _was_ a bit vindictive, but that was hardly Hermione's fault. "Hermione would never do that. She knows that you can't..." he stopped himself from mentioning the Weasley's lack of finances, but Ron had understood the message.

"You see! Hermione is such a menace!" Ron screamed at him. "I know she's doing this on purpose, and _you_ should know that too, but like I said before, it's her or me mate."

"I shouldn't have to pick between my two best friends just because you _think_ Hermione is out to get you."

Ron frowned at him, but kept whatever insult or argument he wanted to shout at Harry to himself. Instead, Ron returned to viciously smashing up Harry's chess pieces until he defeated Harry thrice more. Ron skipped his usual good night, but told Harry quite plainly, "I don't even know why you still even want hang out with her. All she does is nag!"

From then on, Harry couldn't find it in himself to tell Ron how he really felt or even that in his mind there wasn't even a decision that needed to be made. The next day, it was clear that Ron would not speak to him, and Harry knew that he had lost the first friend he had ever made over some stupid little rat.

[Flashback end]

"Harry," Hermione said sullenly, "maybe you should just go and talk to him. I'm not—"

"No," Harry told her stubbornly. "It's not because I'm stubborn, and it's not because I want to copy your homework! Hermione, you're my friend. You are loyal and smart like nobody's business. You would never make me choose between friends, but there was never any choice! Yes, it sucks that Ron might not ever speak to either one of us again, but you _are_ worth it."

She smiled, blinking away a few tears that threatened to fall. She gave him a ferocious hug and a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry," she mumbled as she held him.

"You know Hermione," a dazed voice called from behind them, "Harry does need to breathe every once and in a while."

She let him go immediately and turned towards their two newest study members. "H-hello Luna, Neville."

Harry simply waved, desperately wishing for Hermione's warmth. _'She's just a friend, a sister...right?'_ he asked himself. He allowed himself to look at Hermione, really look at her.

The first thing he noticed was her smile. When Hermione smiled, his world seemed to right itself. Light simply danced across her face, but most of it wound up in her stunning chocolate eyes, eyes that, as usual, turned to him with worry. "Harry, are you okay?" she asked him softly.

"Ye-yeah," he returned breathlessly. "What were we doing again?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Neville and Luna were going to tell us how they met!" And there it was again, that smile. Harry blinked hard, and returned his attention to Luna, who was currently speaking.

"So since my classmates made it so difficult for me to work, Professor Sprout assigned me a tutor. Neville, as it turns out, is quite the budding Herbologist."

Neville blushed at the praise. "Yeah, so I was assigned to help Luna out, and during our first meeting Luna gave me the shock of a life time. I, of course, was expecting a little second year who was a bit clumsy, as that was how Professor Sprout described her, instead I see Luna, who by her own rights is very good with plants."

"Then he walks up to me and asks, 'Do you know where I can find a Luna Lovegood?'" she said with a laugh. "At first I hadn't the heart to tell him, but he managed to weasel it out of me."

"We weren't friends right away, though," Neville said a bit sorrowfully. "I hate to say it, but I was a bit rude. I yelled at her, saying 'If you're so good, you shouldn't be messing around in class,' or something like that."

Luna nodded, "Then I told him a little bit about my roommates, not as much as I told you, Hermione, but–"

"But it was enough," Neville said decisively. "After that, we talked for a while and your birthday came up."

"He told me how you planned it all, Harry. I thought it was very sweet of the Blibbering Humdingers to help you work it out," Luna interjected. "Then, one of my thoughts decided to give Hermione some inspiration – an iris."

"And we know the rest," Hermione smiled.

They then began to study, only if you were any other Gryffindor, you wouldn't quite believe that. In-between the bouts of laughter and giggles were a few moments of seriousness, but no one truly believed the new quartet could really learn anything in such an environment. If only they knew that the excitement was from Hermione teaching the others proper Wizarding history.

The Weasley twins, however, were not fooled by the laughter and cheer. They appeared at the quartet's table and instantly began 'lecturing' them. "My, my dear brother, what have we here?"

"I do believe there are four Gryffindors doing work on a Sunday...wait. Four? Where's Ron?"

Harry sighed and told the twins about Ron's mishap with Scabbers. "When do you plan on giving him back to Ron anyway? I mean, he hasn't _really _noticed, but still."

A dark look passed between the Weasleys. "Scabbers is not a rat," George spoke up gravely.

"What do you mean? How could Scabbers not be— no. It can't – he can't," Hermione's face turned ashen.

Fred nodded, "Scabbers is an Animagus. His name is Peter Pettigrew, and from our research we deduced some bad things."

Harry felt as if he had eaten one of Dudley's gym socks. He had been living with some wizard pretending to be a rat for two years? Neville and Hermione had similar looks of discomfort. Well, actually, Hermione looked a bit more angry than he felt.

"That's...I," she was at a loss for words.

Ignoring her indignant stuttering, George continued, "We figured it out a little while after you gave him to us, Harry. After he had calmed down a little, we set him in our dorm mate's owl cage and began to plan our great prank."

"The we noticed that for a rat, Scabbers was awfully quiet. He was in an owl's cage. Why wasn't he scared for his life?"

George stopped his twin. 'We should tell them,' he communicated mutely.

'But that's our secret,' Fred glared.

'We were going to give it to Harry anyway,' George reminded his twin. No one had really noticed their silent conversation, because quite honestly they weren't really paying attention. Although they heard each word spoken by the two pranksters, only Luna seemed attentive.

"Fine," Fred said suddenly. "There's a second reason."

"We have this map."

"The Marauder's Map," Fred supplied.

"It, well, let me show you." George pulled out an old piece of parchment and flattened it out. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." This piece of magic pushed all thoughts of the rat out of their minds.

**And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that George's wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:**

**Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs**

**Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers**

**are proud to present**

**THE MARAUDER'S MAP**

"It's Hogwarts!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

The twins looked poignantly at Hermione. "And you'd better not tell a soul we have it, or we won't be handing this to Harry like we thought we would," George decided finitely.

She blushed, and responded in a similar tone, "Of course I won't tell. But I'm taking back my debt to you for insinuating so."

Fred huffed a bit, but moved them along. "As you can see, this map shows the people currently in Hogwarts. It shows just about everyone, but animals don't appear, so we found it odd that there were three dots in our dorm rather than two."

"Right after, we took down the name, but debated for weeks about what to tell Dumbledore."

"Then we did a Hermione and headed off to the library." Fred was then hit by one of the harder pillows.

"And we found," George tried to say between his small fits of laughter, "that the person, Peter Pettigrew, who was hiding as a rat..."

"Was actually friends with James Potter..."

"More commonly known as Harry's father."

Luna then decided to speak, "What was he doing as a rat then? He should have been playing Uncle for Harry."

Fred nodded, "Very true, but so should Professor Lupin. Which reminds me, if you haven't already, you should get in contact with him soon."

"Oh, yes. Professor Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black were all friends with your father."

"Where did you find this out," Hermione demanded eagerly. "I've looked everywhere for references to Harry's parents, but how'd you get this information?"

Fred and George looked at her in shock. Neville, however, prodded their consciousnesses back to life. "Are you going to answer her or just stare?"

"Right," George said with a satisfied smirk. "Anyway, before the war with you-know-who got bad, Hogwarts used to make yearbooks. We threatened Madam Pince with a little...um..."

"It doesn't matter," Fred said suddenly. "We got all the yearbooks from up to thirty-six years ago, but only kept the six that had Harry and Neville's parents in them. There wasn't one for seventh year..."

"We don't know why, really, as there were two more after that..."

"Can we get back to what happened with Scab—I mean Pettigrew?" Harry asked hastily.

"Oh, well, after our prank, we went up to Dumbledore and presented him one rat with rather vague descriptions of un-rat-like behavior," Fred said simply.

"Course, he made us stay for a bit as he hmmed and hummed over the pest."

"And it was no surprise that he sent us to get Snape."

"But after that, we know nothing, as McGonagall kicked us out so we could 'go to the party.'"

"'There's a party in Gryffindor waiting for you,'" George mimicked. "'Be sure it shuts down by ten.'"

"Anyway, we'll leave this with you, Harry."

"Use it to avoid some trouble."

"And to find others."

"Good bye, younger years!" they chorused, sweeping away in a rather grand motion.

[Meanwhile, in a heavily warded section of the dungeons...]

Amelia Bones was a rather stern woman, she prided herself on being professional and fair, not unlike Professor McGonagall. She was also the first person the Headmaster would turn to when he had a problem that needed to be handled discretely, and the case of Peter Pettigrew was no acceptation.

However, when Amelia received a floo call from Dumbledore suggesting they had a criminal in custody, she was rightly shocked to find it to be someone who was thought to have died many years ago.

"What is this Albus? I thought you said you had a criminal in custody. In fact, I was quite sure that criminal was to be Sirius Black, _not_ Peter Pettigrew."

"Ah, Amelia. How else was I to drag you away from your office?" Dumbledore asked. "In any case, he is a criminal, Peter Pettigrew."

"Oh? And how is that Albus?" she asked curtly.

"He has been hiding as an Animagus in the form of a lazy pet rat," he spoke tiredly. "Living with the Weasleys, more specifically Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter's best friend."

"Has he...?"

"We were waiting for you to find out."

A knock on the door alerted them to Professors Snape and McGonagall's entry.

"Ah, and here comes our Potions Master and second Witness."

"I have brought the Veritaserum," Snape spoke tersely. "It has been properly brewed and tested."

"Thank you, Severus. Please hand it to Madam Bones and let us begin."

Amelia took the bottle shakily. She both wanted to know if he harmed anyone during his twelve years as a rat, and didn't. What if he had only lived as his animagus in fear of Sirius Black? But then, he should have surfaced once they had captured him. What if he didn't know? How could he not, living with a full wizard family?

There were too many discrepancies, Amelia decided as she placed the potion to the criminal's lips, administering the proper dose. They had to know.

"_Ennervate_," Dumbledore cast as she stepped away.

The Director nodded her thanks and told the scribe quill, "Start recording." Turning to the suspect, she began the interrogation. "State your full name and any other names you possess."

"P-pet-ter P-pet-tigrew," rasped the suspect's squeaky voice. "Als-so known as Wormtail and Scabbers."

Snape hissed angrily, recognizing the name, but held his tongue as Madam Bones asked her next question.

"Why have you been hiding as a rat for twelve years?"

Peter's eyes widened for a second, but the affects of the potion were still very potent. "I was hiding from Sirius Black."

Amelia rolled her eyes, "_Why?_"

"He wants to kill me."

Sometimes Amelia hated Veritaserum. "What is the reason that Sirius Black wants to kill you?"

"Because I killed Lily and James Potter."

Shock was evident on the faces surrounding her, apparently they really had followed protocol and waited for her. Of course the next question was, "How?"

"I was their secret keeper. I gave their location to the Dark Lord."

Amelia frowned, "Wasn't the secret keeper Sirius Black?"

"No."

She shook her head at him, _'The question was rhetorical!' _she screamed mentally. "Do you know why Sirius Black escaped Azkaban?"

"Sirius Black wants to kill me."

Realizing she would get nowhere with this line of questioning, she changed directives. "What have you been doing for the last twelve years?"

His eyes drooped, indicating happier memories, "I lived with the Weasleys."

"Did you hurt anyone while in the care of the Weasleys?"

"Once, I bit this eleven-year-old who was trying to steal my food."

A loud sigh of relief could be heard from McGonagall, but Snape and Dumbledore seemed very impassive.

The session continued for over three hours, leaving the adults feeling a mix of relief, disgust, and anger. They had found out that Pettigrew had faked his death and killed the Muggles, framing Sirius for all of it. They learned Pettigrew had plans to kidnap the youngest Weasley once the Hogwarts session had ended, once again blaming Sirius Black. Most importantly, they learned that Wormtail was more than just a sniveling worm; he was a true fanatical Death Eater.

Once they had finished, Amelia turned to the Hogwarts staff. "We can't keep this quiet. This transcript could prove Sirius Black's innocence."

"I would prefer not to tarnish the reputation of Hogwarts, Amelia. Perhaps once we apprehend Sirius–"

"Dumbledore! You'd let him rot?" Amelia scolded angrily. "I won't stand for injustice. But, you do have a point. The public would not put much faith in Hogwarts if this was found out. I'll give you until the end of the year to find Black. And Albus, please for the sake of Hogwarts modify the wards."

McGonagall sighed, "It will have to be an alert system, my students study the transformation in their seventh year, some even attempt it under my supervision."

"I shall take it into consideration," Dumbledore said kindly. "However, it is quite late, and it might be best if we retired."

* * *

My, my, things are going a bit too slowly. Oh well, plans are for those who don't know that life's too random to have them right? The point is I'm having fun and I hope you are too. If you want to see something specific, you have to review. I'll consider it kindly and if I like the thought, I'll work with it. Please no asking for bashings, I'm working on keeping the characters close to my own vision of how they should be. Other than that, suggest away.

To **alix33**: Thank you so much for spotting those mistakes. I really enjoy your reviews; they make me feel so much better about my writing.

To **Anime Princess**: I would never do that to my characters I just thought it would be what the Professors would think automatically in that sort of situation. I mean, sure it's the Wizarding world, but even they must have suspicions of rapists and such, especially after the first war. Plus, it got that rat doused with Veritaserum.

To **Howlermonkey77**: They met in chapter 7 in a very random and Luna-ish way. I hope this chapter expanded on that enough for you, thanks for pointing it out that it wasn't quite clear.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and if you reviewed, you have my love.

Until next time,

~Kit.

*Bold text is from page 192 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.


	10. Lesson 10: The Days to Come

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, Hermione would have had Harry wrapped around her finger by the end of the third book.

Enjoy, ~Kit.

* * *

Lesson 10 ~ The Days to Come

It had been a week of clandestine silence. The Weasley twins had spread the tale of Peter Pettigrew to all of their family, and many were tense. A letter from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley urged their children to keep things silent in hopes that when Dumbledore was ready, he would announce his findings.

On the other side of things, McGonagall was fighting to release the information of Pettigrew. She had felt horrible after she ran through the conversation about the wards and Black, and nothing elevated the unease and tension inside of her more than doing nothing. So McGonagall did what she thought best, confront Dumbledore.

"Albus, I just don't see how you can't release this information about Pettigrew being found at Hogwarts. What does it matter if we –"

"Minerva," Dumbledore cut her off in a simple tone. "How many years has Percy Weasley been at Hogwarts?"

"Seven, well, six really, as this would be his last. But I don't see –"

"And throughout all those years, where has Pettigrew been?"

McGonagall blushed, "Here, at Hogwarts. But surely," she stopped hesitantly expecting him to interrupt her yet again, "we can just tell them all the truth. You and I can't possibly check every pet to see if they are Animagi. And when those new wards are erected, we can assure it will never happen again."

"Minerva, about that..."

"Albus! Do not tell me you won't put up new wards! At the very least there should be an alert ward to detect when an Animagus is near the castle," McGonagall chided.

Dumbledore sighed. "Would you like some tea?" he asked tiredly. He chuckled slightly at McGonagall's sharp frown. "Minerva, this will be a long chat. Are you sure you wouldn't like any tea?"

"Alright, but I'm not letting you off the hook. Explain everything."

Dumbledore called a house elf and ordered some tea, a hint of calming draught later, and he was ready to tell his story. McGonagall, who believed calming draughts were too addictive, was still very anxious.

"Tell me Minerva, what do you know of Warding?" he asked in a pleasant manner.

Minerva frowned, and spoke tersely, "Not much."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see," he seemed to unfocused for a second, but continued, "I shall start with the basics then –"

"Do. Not. Stall." McGonagall's voice was bristling with anxiety and frustration.

"If you're sure. However, I am at a loss; how should I start? Ah, yes," Dumbledore said with a nod. "The older a ward is, the stronger it is. This is because they have settled down and begin drawing strength from the magic around them. Occasionally a well-placed ward can be added to the outer structure of these wards, but the older the wards are, the harder it is to accomplish it.

"Hogwarts has one of the oldest set of wards that can still be altered. However, they have been around too long that if I wanted to add a new ward, I would have to search for each ward-stone buried around the perimeter of Hogsmeade Valley and spell the new wards hoping they attach to the current ones. At best, I can ward individual rooms in Hogwarts, and I plan on placing them in each of the houses."

McGonagall's face showed a fine amount of dissatisfaction. "That is only acceptable for now. I expect every room to be properly warded before the start of the next year, Albus. Every room," She spoke evenly, but the force behind her words was scant from scolding. "Back to the original matter. Why can't we let Amelia release the fact that we caught that rat? Surely his confession is enough to satisfy the Wizengamot of Black's innocence."

"Alas, a confession, even if influenced by Veritaserum, can be false," Dumbledore spoke surely. "It can only be used to proved innocence, not guilt. Although we are positive Pettigrew has not been tampered with, there are some who would claim Black had modified Pettigrew's memory. I'm sure Amelia realized this after she had calmed down, as she has yet to push for the release of our information."

"So you're telling me the best we can do is nothing? Albus, I simply can't believe that." McGonagall rose from her seat and left.

Dumbledore simply sighed; this was going to be a long year. He took a sip of his tea, and much to his frustration, it was cold. _'Those twins always cause too much trouble,'_ he thought. _'Wait...I'm sure the Arthur and Molly explained everything to their children. I should call the Weasleys to my office, perhaps a few more people as well...'_

An hour later, one Ronald Weasley of Gryffindor received a surprising letter. Most of the letter was expected, but the part that had him most confused was the note at the end. It read, _And Mr. Weasley, please inform any friends who have been informed of this matter to attend as well._

But even though he knew Fred and George had already informed Harry and Hermione, and, by default, Luna and Neville, Ron didn't know how to tell them. _'Friends,'_ it was a nice thought, but Ron already realized, he no longer had any friends. It was his fault too, all his fault...

The first time Ron realized he wasn't needed, he almost snapped.

It had been the day that many secrets were revealed, but most importantly, it was the day he learned that he never _had_ a rat. Then, they entered the room.

Neville and Harry were not laughing, nor were they showing the slightest bit of joy. Instead, the two shared a sadness that permeated the room, and the silence that followed them was deafening.

_'They know,'_ Ron thought somberly. _'They'll blame me.'_

The thoughts confused Ron, and for once in his life, he seemed to realize that he cared. Usually he only cared about the reactions of his enemies. If they insulted him, he got angry and insulted them back. Nothing else was important, well nothing but food, Quidditch and chess.

Muffled laughter broke his thoughts; Dean and Seamus had entered the room. It was only him now, alone in a room filled with his dorm mates. _'Was this how Neville felt? Every day?'_ Ron thought suddenly before forcing himself to sleep...

The next time he was confronted with his self-alienation, he was glad Harry didn't hate him.

Ron sat in a chair near the fireplace. It was far enough away from his old seat to feel alone, but not far enough to block out the entire conversation Luna was having with Harry. He didn't know exactly what had set his former best-friend off, but even Ron could tell it was serious.

"He did WHAT?" Harry exclaimed in an angry snap. All of Gryffindor, well most really, turned to Harry. Ron both wanted to know and to run. He saw Luna call for Hermione, and saddened as her eyes pierced through him.

Even Ron could see the message, _'You're no longer of use to your friends.'_

After that, he left, but the next day a seventh year Ravenclaw was found hanging from the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall.

Somehow, he knew the cause had been Harry...

He knew, or perhaps hoped, that if he apologized, they'd probably forgive him. He laughed bitterly, _'Why don't I want to be forgiven? Being alone, learning the whole reason I'm alone is a lie, _thinking_ because I have nothing else to do. That's all I have._

'_But...I deserve it. Maybe I don't want their forgiveness just yet, by they deserve my apology.'_

With that decided, Ron stood and descended into the common room. It didn't take very long for him to find them sitting around the fire. Harry and Neville seemed to be flipping through a few books, while Hermione was allowing Luna to fix up her hair. Ron hesitated, knowing he was no longer needed had hurt, seeing it almost killed him.

_A flash of Hermione's smile when Harry badgered her about Runes. A laugh shared between Neville and Harry. A knowing look thrown from Luna to Neville. _He wanted to run, but the part of him that had turned up recently, the part that he never understood, steeled inside.

He stepped forward, and slowly neared the happy quartet. He only stopped when he stood between Hermione and the fire. Ron may have been a self-centered pig (mostly at meals), but it was like another knife plunged into him. Not one out of the four acknowledged his presence.

Still, this was something he had to do.

"Hermione," he began shakily, "for what it's worth, I'm sorry." She showed no acknowledgement, but even Ron noticed the quartet went silent. "I don't expect you to forgive me, I don't think I deserve it...but, I said some bad things...and, I'm sorry." He turned towards the fire, completely unaware of the four pairs of eyes now focused on him. "I don't know why I said those things, to you, to Harry, but I guess...well, I was just being an uncivilized, jealous prat.

"I know you didn't mean it, because I know it wasn't your fault...but, I've always wanted something of my own. The only thing that _is_ mine is my wand, and I haven't even had time to appreciate it yet.

"But that's not it. I want you to know, that I really didn't mean it. I was angry, and I wanted to hurt you, but I never meant what I said..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Also, I wanted to thank you. Being friendless leaves a lot of room for thinking...wait, that sounds wrong...that's not what I'm thanking you for...Just, thanks for being there when I needed you. Thanks for helping me when I didn't appreciate it.

"I don't want you to forgive me, not yet. Just say it's okay to talk to you again," Ron turned around and looked at Harry, then Luna. "I'd like to apologize to you guys too, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet."

Silence reigned over the five gathered around the fire. Then, Hermione spoke up, "Ron, we've been friends for about two years. We've done a lot of silly things, and you boys have dragged me into the strangest situations. I don't want to throw away our friendship over a few words, but...it hurt. It hurt so much to be called _that_ by my friend. I can't forgive you, at least not until you show me you've really grown up."

Harry braced himself for the explosion of Mt. Weasley, but it never came. Instead, Ron lowered his head, "Yeah, it probably wouldn't hurt to grow some more though, just to be safe."

"I'm glad the Wrackspurts are gone Ronald," Luna spoke with a smile. "I've heard that they like to return to former hosts every once and a while. I also heard it's best to occasionally spend time in solitude to prevent re-infestation. Perhaps it's worth a try."

Ron nodded, "Thanks Luna. Um, there is something else. Dumbledore wants us in his office tomorrow, after the game I think... Anyway, I think I'll spend some time with Ginny. She finally got caught up with her work you know?"

As Ron left, Harry realized that he had forgotten about the other witch who had spent her first year in solitude. Standing, he called out, "Hey Ron, drag Ginny over when you get there, will you?"

Ron did as told, and returned with his sister. She was just as shy as Harry remembered her, but this time, he realized that it wasn't because of the Boy-Who-Lived; Ginny was scared of the world. After a few words and knowing looks, Hermione decided that Ginny needed therapy, and if the school didn't realize this, she would have to act on her own.

She dragged Luna and Ginny up to her room, stopping only to yell at the protesting Ron, "Just play some chess, we're having girl time."

The newly perceptive Ron saw the look in her eyes, and gave her a melancholy smile.

Neville motioned the red-head over, and awkwardly, Ron complied. The crackling of the fire was only accompanied by the low buzz of the common room. No one knew what to say, or even what to do. "This is all very strange," Neville voiced finally. "You guys were, _are_ friends. You should be able to talk about something!"

Ron and Harry smiled. "When did you get so Gryffindor Neville?" Harry asked with a laugh. "It suits you."

"I think it's a part of being your friend Harry," Ron spoke. "I mean, look at what you did to Hermione."

Harry's smile turned red. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Eh? Something wrong?" Ron asked.

Neville grinned, "I don't think so Ron, look."

Harry had begun fidgeting, something that had grown increasingly common since he had claimed to always choose Hermione. "I-it's nothing!"

"Quit being such a girl Harry," Ron laughed. "You like her."

Neville nodded sagely, "I do believe it is about time you realized it."

Harry sputtered indignantly and threw a near-by pillow at them. This inspired a short pillow fight that was broken up by a loud sob. Long red hair streaked across the common room and crashed into Neville.

Ginny, who had been aiming for Harry's spot on the couch, looked up in confusion. Deciding it didn't really matter who held her, she cried. Seconds later, a mildly wet Hermione and Luna appeared.

"What happened?" Harry asked, sneaking a glance at Ron. The older Weasley looked angry and helpless, but kept his mouth shut until he calmed.

"She had a breakdown. I don't know why. Ron, did this ever happen at home?" Hermione asked.

Ron shrugged, "Not the right person to ask. What were you talking about?"

"The Chamber."

It took all of his self control not to shout, but he still managed to ask, "Why?"

"She brought it up," Luna informed the boys. "Then she started crying and when Lavender and Parvati came into the room, she ran out."

Neville, who was patting Ginny's back carefully, was startled as she began to hiccup. He heard her mumbling, but barely caught the words "monster," "chamber," and "my fault." He gave Luna a pleading look, but was only given a small smile in return.

Things calmed down after a while, and the night soon turned into a bonding session. Everyone had their own horror stories to share. They ranged from Harry's rotten cousin to Neville's Squib-hating uncle, Hermione's lonely school days to Ginny's tale of solitude, and Ron's insecurities to Luna's 'strangeness.' They found similarities in each other that they never knew they had, and it was clear that even Ron had his problems.

Later that night, Ron asked Harry, "Would you mind if I was on my own for a while? I like being with you guys, but I think I should figure out a few things first."

"So you want to be on your own for a while?"

"Yeah," Ron said with a smile. "Maybe I'll plan the takeover of the chess club."

Harry laughed, "I want to be there for that one."

"You can count on it mate."

* * *

Hi everyone, thanks again for reading!

Sorry it's late, I am still trying to do everything before it's time for finals. November was so stressful, but hopefully this chapter has appeased you. I know this is short, but consider it a teaser. Next chapter we go in depth, and finally we will see if I can write a good Quidditch match.

Tell me what you think! I want to know. How do you feel about Ron's change? Is it too fast?

Also, what should the other pairings be? I was thinking about Neville/Luna, but I'm also fond of Neville/Ginny. Ron doesn't need a pairing, but if you guys prefer Nev and Gin, I'd like Luna to be paired with someone. I'm not too fond of Luna/Ron, so don't suggest that, but if you care, tell me preferred parings. I may put up a vote later...

And finally, do you want more "training time?" Or should I just keep going?

Again, thanks for reading! And to all my reviewers, you have my love.

See you soon, ~ Kit.


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